Goldman Sachs' London office added 1 person in Q1. Be thankful
If you couldn't find a job at an investment bank in London in the first quarter of this year, then you probably weren't alone. At Goldman Sachs, at least, there was almost no hiring.
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Q1 accounts for Goldman Sachs International, the firm’s London-based subsidiary, were published earlier this week. While the firm’s global headcount inched up across Q1 of 2025 – from 46,500 people to 46,600 people – London hiring was a lot less.
One lucky person joined Goldman’s London office in 2025. Headcount went from 3,614 people to 3,615. This includes people replaced by churn/attrition. One new person, net. One single lucky team at Goldman Sachs in London actually grew in headcount during the first quarter.
It’s not entirely clear who that new person is or which team they joined. In all likelihood, it’s not a front-office revenue-generator: over the last few years, Goldman’s London office has steadily added significant numbers of “support-related” staff while various banking and trading roles fell in number.
Goldman’s Q1 hiring and firing patterns are quite irregular. Although Q1 of both 2024 and 2025 have led to overall increases, the previous seven have involved headcount decreases. Across the last ten Q1s, Goldman Sachs international has reduced headcount by 58 people, on average, per quarter. It could have been worse.
Goldman’s global Q1 results last month weren’t the best. Sales & trading revenue ranged from average to poor compared to big US peers. The firm's investment bankers even saw revenue fall globally. Things in London, however, were not quite as dire.
Generally speaking, regardless of who got the new face, Goldman's London teams performed well. Investment banking revenue grew by 20%, compared to an 8% fall at the bank globally. Fixed income, currencies, and commodities sales & trading revenue grew by 8% in London, compared to 2% globally. Only equities sales & trading revenue was a little behind, growing by 11% in London compared to 27% globally.
And, in turn, Goldman’s Londoners were well-compensated for their efforts. The company noted in its accounts that compensation (and benefits) spending was 9% higher than the same period in 2024 due to an increase in “year-end discretionary compensation.”
This may be due to the raising of the bonus cap: Goldman now has the ability to pay bonuses up to 25x salary to its London-based employees. Salaries might have decreased to make room that new year-end discretionary compensation.
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