Morgan Stanley Cuts 2,500 Jobs

Morgan Stanley Cuts 2,500 Jobs

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The United States-based investment heavyweight Morgan Stanley has laid off about 3% of its workforce, around 2,500 employees, across all divisions.

According to Reuters, the job cuts affected three main divisions: investment banking and trading, wealth management, and asset management.

However, the efficiency move did not affect financial advisers.

Morgan Stanley posted a stellar year in 2025, with annual revenue hitting a record high. In Q4 2025, the company’s profit also beat Wall Street expectations, boosted by a 47% rise in investment banking revenue amid stronger M&A activity and nearly doubling bond underwriting revenue.

Banking executives have expressed optimism for 2026 due to merger and acquisition plans and initial public offerings.

On the other hand, market volatility driven by concerns about AI disruption to conventional tech businesses and geopolitical tensions has fuelled activity at the trading desk. Many clients are repositioning their portfolios to hedge against market risk.

The staff cuts refer to efficiency in line with individual performance. The bank intends to increase headcount in other businesses.

Previously, Morgan Stanley employed 82,992 people globally as of 31 December. Big-scale layoffs across US companies have begun earlier this year, as they streamline operations amid rising adoption of AI tools.

Last month, Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block announced it had cut more than 4,000 jobs, nearly half of its workforce, as part of a restructuring to embed AI across its operations.