Investment-management giant BlackRock Inc. plans to lay off around 3% of its staff, or around 600 employees, the company said on Tuesday, amid what executives described as a “rapidly changing” economic backdrop and shifts in client demands.
In a memo to employees, Chief Executive Larry Fink and President Rob Capito said they still expected the company’s workforce to be bigger by the end of the year “as we continue adding people and building capabilities to support key areas of growth.”
They also said more clients were turning to BlackRock
BLK,
to consolidate their portfolios, adding that clients were “re-risking” as interest rates level off.
“At the same time, we see our industry changing faster than at any time since the founding of BlackRock,” the executives said. “Thanks in large part to the outstanding work of our iShares team — ETFs are becoming ubiquitous as the preferred vehicle for delivering both index and active investment strategies.”
“Growth is coming from a wider range of markets around the world than ever before — across Europe, the Middle East, India, and other markets in Asia,” they continued. “And, perhaps most profound, new technologies are poised to transform our industry — and every other industry.”
No single team at BlackRock was focused on for this round of layoffs, according to a person familiar with the matter. The cuts follow a previous round of layoffs roughly a year ago, when Blackrock said it would dismiss less than 3% of staff. The company has around 20,000 employees.
News of the new round of layoffs was reported earlier Tuesday by Bloomberg. Shares of BlackRock were down 0.6% on the day.
