BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced plans to reduce its workforce by roughly 1%, impacting around 200 employees out of its 21,000-strong global team. The decision follows the firm’s $25 billion investment in acquisitions during 2024 to bolster its presence in private market assets and data.
In a staff memo dated Jan. 8, BlackRock President Rob Kapito and COO Rob Goldstein explained that the layoffs align with the company’s strategic resource realignment. “As part of these firmwide efforts, we will be making changes today that will see approximately 1% of our colleagues leave the firm,” they stated. “This is never easy.”
Despite the layoffs, BlackRock has been in a growth phase, adding 3,750 employees in 2024. The firm expects to hire an additional 2,000 employees in 2025, fuelled by its acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), HPS Investment Partners, and data provider Preqin.
The $12.5 billion GIP acquisition closed on Oct. 1, 2024, the $12 billion HPS deal is expected to finalise mid-2025 and the $3.2 billion Preqin acquisition, initially set for late 2024, remains pending.
“These investments make us a stronger and more dynamic organisation, better positioned to serve clients over the long term,” the executives wrote. “They will enable us to accelerate our momentum in 2025.”
