Morgan Stanley to cut 3% of global workforce in key business lines

Morgan Stanley will reduce about 3% of its global workforce — roughly 2,500 of the roughly 83,000 employees the firm reported at the end of 2025 — with the reductions expected to take place in early March. The cuts will span the bank’s three main business units: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.

The moves are driven by shifting business priorities, a revised global location strategy, and individual performance reviews, and will affect both front-office revenue roles and back-office support positions. Within wealth management, reductions are focused on corporate “home office” roles, and financial advisors in field offices are not affected.

This round follows a set of reductions last spring that trimmed about 2,000 roles. The layoffs come after a record 2025, when the firm posted full-year revenues of $70.6 billion and saw investment-banking revenues surge 47% in the final quarter.

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