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The full list of major US companies slashing staff in the new year, including Microsoft, BlackRock, and Ally

Microsoft
Microsoft is planning job cuts in the new year, Business Insider previously reported.

RICCARDO MILANI/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

  • Job cuts are continuing into 2025 following waves of reductions last year.
  • Companies like Microsoft, BlackRock, and Ally have all confirmed cuts.
  • See the list of companies letting workers go in 2025.

Layoffs and other workforce reductions are continuing in 2025, following two years of significant job cuts across tech, media, finance, manufacturing, and retail.

While companies' reasons for slimming their staff vary, the cost-cutting measures come amid the backdrop of technological change. Some 41% of companies worldwide are expected to reduce their workforces over the next five years due to the rise of artificial intelligence, according to a recent World Economic Forum report.

Companies like Dropbox, Google, and IBM have previously announced job cuts related to AI. Meanwhile, tech jobs in big data, fintech, and AI are expected to double by 2030, according to the WEF.

Here are the companies with job cuts planned or already underway in 2025 so far.

BlackRock is reportedly cutting 1% of its workforce
BlackRock
BlackRock is planning layoffs, according to a recent report.

Eric Thayer/Reuters

BlackRock told employees it plans to cut about 200 people of its 21,000-strong workforce, according to Bloomberg.

The reductions are more than offset by some 3,750 workers who were added last year and another 2,000 expected to be added in 2025.

BlackRock President Rob Kapito and Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein said the cuts will help realign the firm's resources with its strategy, Bloomberg reported.

Bridgewater is cutting approximately 90 staff
bridgewater associates
Bridgewater's layoffs will return its head count to where it was in 2023, a person familiar with the matter told BI.

Bridgewater Associates

Bridgewater Associates cut 7% of its staff on Monday in an effort to stay lean, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

The layoffs at the world's largest hedge fund bring its head count back to where it was in 2023, the person said.

Founder Ray Dalio said in a 2019 interview that about 30% of new employees leave the firm within 18 months.

The Washington Post is cutting 4% of its non-newsroom workforce
The Washington Post building
The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post is reportedly conducting layoffs in January.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Washington Post is eliminating less than 100 employees in an effort to cut costs, Reuters reported Tuesday.

A spokesperson told the wire service that the changes would occur across multiple areas of the business and indicated that the cuts would not affect the newsroom.

"The Washington Post is continuing its transformation to meet the needs of the industry, build a more sustainable future and reach audiences where they are," the spokesperson said, according to Reuters.

Microsoft is planning an unspecified number of cuts
Microsoft store sign
Microsoft confirmed to BI that job cuts were planned.

NurPhoto/Getty Images

Microsoft is planning job cuts soon, and the company is taking a harder look at underperforming employees as part of the reductions, according to two people familiar with the plans.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed cuts but declined to share details on the number of employees being let go.

"At Microsoft we focus on high performance talent," the spokesperson said. "We are always working on helping people learn and grow. When people are not performing, we take the appropriate action."

Ally will cut less than 5% of workers
Ally Bank
Ally is offering several supports for

Ally Bank/Facebook

Digital financial company Ally is laying off roughly 500 of its 11,000 employees, a spokesperson confirmed to BI. The impacted employees were notified on Tuesday.

"As we continue to right-size our company, we made the difficult decision to selectively reduce our workforce in some areas, while continuing to hire in our other areas of our business," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also said the company is offering severance, out-placement support, and the opportunity to apply for openings at Ally.

Ally made a similar level of cuts in October 2023, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Is your company conducting layoffs? Got a tip?
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The author, not pictured, only texts her best friend.

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If you are an employee with a tip about upcoming job cuts, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out

Read the original article on Business Insider

Bridgewater cuts 7% of staff

7 January 2025 at 21:42
Headshot of Nir Bar Dea, CEO of Bridgewater Associates
Bridgewater Associates is cutting 7% of its staff

Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Global Citizen

  • Bridgewater Associates cut 7% of staff, or about 90 people.
  • The hedge fund, which manages $172 billion, is known for its radical transparency and high turnover.
  • The company last laid off people in 2023 to cut costs and free up resources

Bridgewater Associates cut 7% of its staff on Monday in an effort to stay lean, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

The layoffs bring headcount back to where it was in 2023 for the world's largest hedge fund, the person said. It's unclear which divisions were impacted by the cuts.

Bloomberg first reported the layoffs, including that 90 people were affected. Four of the firm's funds posted double-digit returns last year, Bloomberg said.

The Connecticut-based company last laid off people in 2023 to cut costs and free up resources. At the time, it eliminated about 100 jobs in a workforce of roughly 1,300 employees.

Last year, Bridgewater's high-profile hires included macro traders Jerome Saragoussi and Ben Melkman, and Ziad Hindo, a veteran investor with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

The company is still hiring β€” the firm lists three open jobs for its Shanghai office.

Ray Dalio founded the firm in 1975 and relinquished his voting rights in 2022. Nir Bar Dea, who started as a management associate in 2015, is now CEO.

The hedge fund had about $172 billion under management as of November, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Bridgewater is known for its culture of radical transparency and pushing employees.

Dalio instituted a real-time rating system in which employees used iPads to score each other. One former intern told BI last year that she loved the process.

Dalio said in a 2019 interview that about 30% of new employees leave the firm within 18 months.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The year hedge funds grew up

27 December 2024 at 01:15
Portrait of a smiling blonde boy wearing a suit and a tie.
The hedge fund industry showed new signs of maturity in 2024.

Imgorthand/Getty Images

  • Institutionalization was one of the biggest themes in hedge funds this year.
  • A once-scrappy industry is starting to resemble private equity and venture capital.
  • The biggest firms and new launches have evolved significantly from the days of a couple of guys and a Bloomberg.

The game has changed.

Hedge funds, led by the industry's biggest names who set the agenda for the multi-trillion-dollar sector, were once known for their scrappiness, speed, and reliance on the brains and vision of their founders.

Now, as the industry's investor base has shifted to long-term institutions from wealthy families and small funds-of-funds, hedge funds have become institutions of their own. 2024 may be the turning point for the space that, in 10 years' time, industry observers will look back on as the beginning of the next era.

The biggest managers in the space are preparing for life beyond their founders, long-standing funds are becoming more formulaic and bureaucratic, and new entrants need to raise more money than ever before.

Multistrategy managers like Millennium, Citadel, and Point72 have long been moving in this direction, but recent moves by each of the firms' founders point to a world in which these giants outlast their larger-than-life leaders.

Ken Griffin, Citadel's billionaire founder, said in November that he would be open to selling a stake in his $66 billion Miami-based asset manager. Millennium and the world's largest asset manager BlackRock have reportedly had talks about the latter taking a stake in the former.

Both firms are set to outlast their founders, with built-out infrastructure and leadership teams littered with former Goldman Sachs partners. $72 billion Millennium, for example, created the office of the CIO in late 2022 and promoted longtime executive Ajay Nagpal to president, providing investors with a clear line into the next level of leadership beyond founder Izzy Englander.

The legendary founder of $35 billion Point72, meanwhile, has stepped away from trading his own book of stocks, which is how he burst onto the scene decades ago.

While Steve Cohen spends plenty of time and money on the baseball team he owns, the New York Mets, a person close to the firm said the decision to step back from running a book was not an indication that he's spending any less time working at his manager.

In a recent internal town hall, this person said, he described no longer having a book under his purview as "freeing" as he can spend more time on strategic initiatives for the firm. Without a portfolio to manage, the market's hours no longer dictate Cohen's schedule β€” a flexibility he appreciates as he balances running the manager and his baseball team.

For example, in mid-October, Cohen was set to appear on a panel at investment consultant Albourne Partners' annual conference in New York, but canceled because the Mets had gone on a run in the playoffs, people familiar with the event told Business Insider.

Succession, quality launches, and a promising environment

Beyond the main multistrategy names, a number of long-running firms across the industry are, structurally, starting to look more like peers in private equity than smaller rivals in the hedge fund space.

Places like Elliott Management centralized decision-making and created more internal structure, which has frustrated some veterans of Paul Singer's asset manager but provides the needed hierarchy.

Meanwhile, firms like Two Sigma and Bridgewater have officially moved on from their founders with new leadership. Brevan Howard's billionaire founder Alan Howard no longer trades for his firm.

At the other end of the industry, the bar for new launches has increased substantially, and the next generation of industry leaders are starting the firms with a much more institutional feel than even five years ago. Bobby Jain's $5.3 billion launch in July, for example, had plenty of big-name hires and titles right from the start.

In 2023, the average fund launched with $300 million, according to Goldman Sachs' prime brokerage division. PivotalPath, the industry data tracker run by Jon Caplis, said in an end-of-year report that it expects 2024 to be similar, driven by the increase of multi-managers allocating externally.

It's been driven by a focus from allocators on "quality" launches, PivotalPath's report states; the firm is tracking 145 new funds launching between the start of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025 with founders who come from funds with more than $1 billion.

If you're able to command enough capital β€” either from a platform like Millennium or big allocators like pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments β€” it should be worth it. Longtime industry players and investors believe it is shaping up to be a strong period for the industry thanks to increased volatility that will allow actively managed investment firms to shine.

"Our underlying hedge fund managers are active, fundamental stock pickers who seek to identify the best opportunities and offer differentiated exposure," wrote New York-based fund-of-funds Old Farm Partners in a recent note that focused on why active management should shine in the coming years.

"Given the argument that we have laid out in this paper, we think the current market backdrop should provide a favorable setup for our strategy going forward."

Read the original article on Business Insider

How to get hired at top hedge funds like Citadel, D.E. Shaw, and Point72

8 December 2024 at 06:49
Four D. E. Shaw interns gathered around a computer.
D.E. Shaw interns.

D. E. Shaw

  • The biggest hedge funds are battling it out to attract and retain top talent and outperform peers.
  • Business Insider has talked to elite hedge funds to get a peek into their recruiting processes.
  • From internships to how they hire for tech, here's what we know about getting a job at a hedge fund.

The war for the best hedge fund talent cuts across all levels and positions. Firms like Citadel, Point72, D.E. Shaw, and Bridgewater are in constant competition for the best and brightest to help them gain an edge in the cutthroat industry.Β 

These behemoth funds are now putting serious time and resources into recruiting for internship and training programs to create a steady employee pipeline.

Eye-popping pay, prestige, challenging work environments, and the promise of working with some of the best investors in the industry means there's a lot of competition for a spot at one of these firms.Β 

The money is top-shelf, even for financial services jobs.

These funds, which have grown into behemoths, are now contributing serious time and resources to recruit for internship and training programs that could better guarantee them a steady employee pipeline.

Eye-popping pay, prestige, challenging work environments, and the promise of working with some of the best investors in the industry means they have a pretty attractive proposition to offer.

Internships at quant fund D.E. Shaw can pay up to $22,000. Entry-level analysts and software engineers get paid above 6 figures a year. Portfolio managers with winning strategies can take home millions.Β 

Business Insider has talked to some of the biggest hedge fund managers about how they attract talent, as well as ways to join their ranks and be successful at their firms. Here's everything we know.Β 

Internships and fellowships

The opaque and secretive world of hedge funds might not necessarily be an obvious choice for many college graduates. Massive money managers are launching new programs to change that and attract young, diverse wunderkinder at earlier stages than before.Β 

Citadel intern Justin Lou and Johnna Shields.
Citadel’s Johnna Shields with Justin Luo of the Citadel Associate Program.

Citadel

Internships have also become huge talent pipelines for some of the biggest multi-strategy hedge funds in the industry, which employ armies of traders and engineers. Programs are uber-competitive and harder to get into than many top Ivy League schools.

Analyst and investment training programs

Typically, hedge funds acquire their investment talent after a few years of working at an investment bank. Increasingly though, the industry's top players are paying graduates to train through intensive programs that can lead to joining investment teams straight after college.Β 

Even the way up-and-coming portfolio managers cut their teeth has evolved.

Tech jobs and training programs

Hedge funds have long been competing with the finance industry and top tech companies for top technologists. Engineers and algorithm developers are key to helping researchers, data scientists, and traders develop cutting-edge investment strategies and platforms. Quant shop D.E. Shaw also has a unique approach to finding talent.

Other resources, including recruiter insight and how to dominate a 5-hour interview

Read the original article on Business Insider

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