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BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager will cut 500 jobs globally, or 2.5% of its workforce, as it grapples with last year’s market sell off.
The company, which has offices in 38 countries including in Dubai, Riyadh and Tel Aviv, made the announcement in an internal memo to employees, according to a Financial Times report, which said the job losses were first reported in Business Insider.
The news follows 3,200 job losses at investment bank Goldman Sachs earlier this week.
Last year, BlackRock signed an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to jointly explore projects in the Middle East.
As of last year, the New York-based firm employed 44 people in the UAE and 15 in Saudi Arabia, according to reports, and was seeking expansion in the first quarter.
Prior to the PIF MoU, BlackRock said it was seeking infrastructure deals and was looking to invest in private companies in the GCC, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The company hasn’t conducted a major round of layoffs since 2019 and has increased its headcount by about 22% over the past three years, a BlackRock spokesperson told MarketWatch, adding the job cuts are coming in the face of an “unprecedented market environment”, CNN reported.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)
