Wall Street giant to slash hundreds of jobs — says improving the firm is a 'constant priority'
Layoffs that started with the tech industry in America have been spreading to other sectors over the years. The latest to join the wave is top asset management firm BlackRock. According to a report by The New York Post, the company is willing to let go of around 250 employees, which makes up approximately 1% of its total workforce. The people who disclosed this news on the condition of anonymity also stated that the investment and sales teams will be the most affected, as BlackRock carries out these layoffs as part of a broader restructuring.
This isn’t BlackRock’s first rodeo for cutting jobs recently, as the Wall Street giant has held two rounds of layoffs in 2025, each time reducing its total workforce by approximately 1%. Moreover, while the latest 2026 layoffs are planned, we still do not know when the employees will be let go or the exact reason behind them. That said, other asset management companies that were forced to cut jobs have cited cost-cutting, economic uncertainty, restructuring, and the influence of artificial intelligence as factors behind the layoffs.
While the job cuts come in the wake of BlackRock CEO and Co-Founder Larry Fink steering the company away from public markets and towards alternative investments, an official spokesperson justified the layoffs as a push for greater efficiency, saying, “Improving BlackRock is a constant priority.” They also added that the company reviews its resources every year, stating, “Each year, we make decisions to ensure that our resources are aligned with our objectives and that we are well positioned to serve clients today and in the future.”
CEO Larry Fink has been pushing hard for alternative investments, which saw BlackRock adding new executives and getting new funds ready for investors after acquiring HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion in July 2025. This vision is also reflected in their 2026 investment outlook, where the Wall Street giant outlined three specific investment themes, namely artificial intelligence, income, and diversification.
The company believes that AI is here to stay and is ready to invest in it long-term. In fact, the New York Times report mentions that BlackRock is one of a handful of companies that have specialized AI-focused funds on offer. At the same time, income and diversification are also important to the world’s largest asset manager since the Federal Reserve might cut down interest rates again this year, and investors are on the lookout for diverse new assets to put their money in.
That said, BlackRock isn't alone when it comes to layoffs in the finance sector. According to a report by Reuters, Citigroup will also let go of about 1,000 employees this week, as part of an older plan to cut 20,000 roles by the end of 2026. Likewise, financial service firm UBS Group will hold a round of layoffs in the middle of January, which will be followed by a second round sometime later in 2026, per Bloomberg.
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