Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) chief executive David Solomon said he wished he laid off thousands of employees sooner.
According to details of a closed-door meeting that took place last week and was leaked to the Financial Times, Solomon said: "As the environment was growing more complicated in the second quarter of last year, every bone in my body believed we should be much more aggressive in slowing hiring and reducing headcount."
Last month, the US bank fired 3,200 employees, roughly 6.5% of its staff.
Solomon also allegedly acknowledges that if the firings had taken place sooner, they would’ve been less drastic.
Goldman had been on a hiring spree, increasing its headcount by 34% from the end of 2018 to the third quarter of 2022 to over 49,000 members of staff.
Net profits had plunged nearly 50% from record earnings in 2021 due to lower investment banking fees and a markdown in its asset management business.