Morgan Stanley Cuts 3% Workforce Despite Record Revenues in 2025

Morgan Stanley MS has reduced its global workforce by 3%, impacting nearly 2,500 employees across its operations. The move affects staff across the bank’s three primary divisions — investment banking (IB) and trading, wealth management, and investment management. However, financial advisors remain unaffected by the layoffs. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Reason Behind Morgan Stanley’s Layoffs

The job cuts stem from strategic restructuring, performance reviews and resource reallocation, rather than poor financial performance, especially since Morgan Stanley reported record revenues in 2025, supported by strong performances across IB, trading and wealth management.

In 2025, deal-making activity rebounded significantly, with IB revenues rising 47%. Fees from debt underwriting also doubled as companies returned to capital markets.

Thus, these layoffs are tied to shifting business priorities, as the bank reallocates resources toward areas with stronger growth potential while reducing roles that are less aligned with its current strategy. Individual performance evaluations have also played a role in determining which positions were eliminated.

Another factor behind the job cuts is Morgan Stanley’s evolving location strategy and broader organizational restructuring. The reductions span multiple regions and functions across the firm. While trimming certain roles, the bank has indicated that it plans to add headcount in other areas, suggesting the move is aimed at optimizing workforce distribution rather than shrinking the business overall.

Morgan Stanley’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank

In the past six months, MS shares have gained 12.6% compared with the industry’s 4.7% rise.

Currently, Morgan Stanley carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Job Cuts by Other Finance Firms

At the Goldman Sachs 2025 conference held in December 2025, Wells Fargo & Company WFC signaled that its workforce could shrink in 2026 as part of a broader push to improve efficiency and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations.

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf emphasized that AI will play a central role in reshaping how the bank operates, noting that AI is “extremely significant” both for driving efficiency and for its “potential” impact on future headcount.

Similarly, according to a Business Today news article, published on MSN in December 2025, UBS Group AG UBS has been preparing to cut up to 10,000 employees globally by 2027 as it advances the integration of Credit Suisse. 

Since acquiring Credit Suisse in 2023, UBS has already eliminated approximately 15,000 positions, mainly from overlapping roles created by the merger. Looking ahead, workforce reduction may accelerate, depending on the progress of Credit Suisse’s integration. These reductions are aimed at removing redundant positions, improving operational efficiency and supporting the broader structural consolidation required to integrate Credit Suisse’s operations fully.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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