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By Aliss Higham
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Morgan Stanley is cutting about 2,500 jobs, or roughly 3 percent of its global workforce, with reductions spread across investment banking and trading, wealth management, and investment management.
Newsweek has contacted Morgan Stanley for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The layoffs come despite a record revenue year at Morgan Stanley in 2025 and several years of employment growth. They also underscore a broader wave of corporate job reductions as companies adjust operations, integrate new technology, and manage costs.
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What To Know
Morgan Stanley is eliminating approximately 2,500 roles, with cuts affecting employees in its three major business units, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. The reductions are occurring in both U.S. and international offices.
The company has not publicly given a reason for why the layoffs are taking place.
FOX Business reported the cuts are based on business priorities, location strategy, and individual performance, and that the firm plans to add resources in other areas. Financial advisors are not affected, but the company is reducing staff who handle support roles within its profitable wealth management division, according to reporting by The Associated Press (AP).
Morgan Stanley had about 83,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2025, reflecting growth from roughly 60,000 in 2019 to 82,000 by the end of 2022, according to reporting by the AP.
The job cuts follow what was described as a record revenue year in 2025 for Morgan Stanley, including stronger dealmaking and improved investment banking performance. In its January 2026 report, the bank said revenue increased to $17.89 billion from $16.22 billion a year ago.
Layoffs Across The United States
Across finance and technology industries, there have been broader staffing reassessments, with other firms announcing cuts as they pursue efficiency and adopt new tools, including artificial intelligence.
Last week financial technology firm Block, which owns Cash App and the point-of-sale company Square, announced it would lay off 40 percent of its workforce.
Retail behemoth Amazon cut 16,000 roles in January, and Nike cut 775 jobs at its distribution centers in the same month, illustrating wider corporate recalibrations.
U.S.-based employers announced 48,307 job cuts in February, a 55 percent decline from the 108,435 layoffs reported in January, according to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Through February, employers announced 156,742 job cuts, the lowest January-to-February total since 2022. Hiring plans rose 140 percent in February to 12,755 from 5,306 in January.
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