Goldman's Latest Layoffs Target its Bonus Takers

The latest round of layoffs at Goldman Sachs was small, just 50 staffers, but it was notable for who got cut: not rank-and-file workers but some people with big titles and, of course, big bonuses.

The latest round of layoffs at Goldman Sachs was small, just 50 staffers, but it was notable for who got cut: not rank-and-file workers but some people with big titles and, of course, big bonuses. The firm's already let go some 3,000 employees over the past year, DealBook's Susanne Craig noted, but this time around it targeted its pricey managing directors. "Managing directors make a base of $500,000 and receive an annual bonus that can climb into the millions of dollars." These are the folks whose enormous pay and bonuses Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein once defended as a sign of economic recovery, which makes the fact his firm is severing them all the more worrisome: By the same logic, if huge bonuses indicate recovery, then laying off the people who make huge bonuses indicates trouble. But not for Goldman. The firm reported $2.11 billion in net earnings for the first three months of the year.