(Business Insider) Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley is cutting 1,500 jobs or roughly 2% of its workforce, in an efficiency drive to help combat economic uncertainty.
People familiar with the matter told CNBC that the cuts will largely hit technology and operations, while Bloomberg reported that some of the cuts will also affect sales trading and research. The bank employs more than 60,000 people.
Bloomberg added that the bank will take a charge of roughly $150 million to $200 million in the fourth quarter as part of the cuts.
There may be more to come.
"Wall Street firms often cut jobs toward the end of the year to avoid paying out bonuses," CNBC wrote. "Morgan Stanley is the first known instance of this, but other firms will likely announce cuts as planning for 2020 continues."
Morgan Stanley declined to comment to Business Insider.
The bank's stock has rallied in 2019, rising more than 22% since the start of the year.
The news of Morgan Stanley's reduction in headcount comes after a slew of job cuts, especially among European lenders.
German titan Deutsche Bank led the cuts as 18,000 jobs cuts were announced in July. Elsewhere in Europe, Commerzbank announced cuts of roughly 4,300 jobs, Santander roughly 3,700 and HSBC a further 10,000.
Among US banks, Citibank announced job cuts in July, although on a much smaller scale.
