BlackRock is cutting about 300 jobs, extending a reorganization that included the shakeup of its investment units last year.
BlackRock will reduce its workforce by less than 3%, with some workers leaving immediately and others over coming months, President Robert S. Kapito said Monday in a memo to employees. BlackRock will continue to hire and probably will have more employees at the end of 2013 than at the end of 2012, according to the memo.
“We are reshaping the organization by shifting certain responsibilities and moving some roles to different locations or areas of the business,” Mr. Kapito said. “The mix of employees will change as our business is constantly evolving.”
CEO Laurence D. Fink, who with Mr. Kapito co-founded New York-based BlackRock more than two decades ago, moved more fund management executives into top leadership roles in August as the firm seeks to expand by attracting investor assets rather than making acquisitions. Mr. Fink also split BlackRock's portfolio-management group into five investment units to boost returns and revive investor deposits into actively managed funds.
BlackRock had 10,500 employees as of Dec. 31, compared with 10,100 employees a year earlier, according to regulatory filings.
The firm has added more than 1,500 employees, or almost 18% of its workforce, since the start of 2010, Mr. Kapito said in the memo.
