BlackRock will lay off 600 employees – 3% of the firm's approximately 20,000 employees – in a fresh wave of job cuts as the $9.1 trillion firm prepares to "reallocate resources," according to a memo sent to staff on Jan. 9.
The layoffs are BlackRock's third round in the past 12 months: last January, the firm cut 500 positions, followed by a 1% staffing haircut in June.
According to the staff memo, written by BlackRock's CEO and Chairman Larry Fink and President Rob Kapito, the layoffs will affect "businesses across the firm."
A source within the company said that no single team was in focus for the layoffs, contradicting earlier media reports that the layoffs would largely impact the firm's ESG business.
In their memo, Fink and Kapito attribute the need for layoffs to the rapidly changing asset management industry rather than any BlackRock-specific challenges, adding that the firm has entered the new year "with significant momentum" and its relationships with clients "have never been stronger."
The firm has ramped up its investment in AI technology, which Fink has hailed as a transformational technology that could increase employee productivity. In the memo, Fink and Kapito acknowledge that "new technologies are poised to transform our industry" including "(achieving) significant efficiencies in how we operate."
Despite the layoffs, BlackRock plans to step up its hiring efforts in 2024, ending the year with "a larger workforce as we continue adding people and building capabilities to support key areas of growth."
BlackRock will report earnings on Jan. 12.