BlackRock Announces 300 Job Cuts

According to an internal memo issued by BlackRock, Inc. (BLK - Analyst Report), the company will be cutting 300 jobs – about 3% of the total workforce as of Dec 31, 2012. At the same time, the company will continue with its hiring activities and expects to end the year with more employees than it had at the end of 2012.

Some of the retrenched employees will depart now, while others are expected to leave in the coming months. The job cuts are a part of BlackRock’s reorganization efforts that included restructuring of its investment units. Moreover, the company is focusing on organic growth via expansion through increasing client assets, while giving less attention to buyouts.

Additionally, as per the internal memo, after acquiring Barclays Global Investors (BGI) from Barclays Plc (BCS) in 2009, BlackRock added nearly 1,500 employees. This is the first time that the company announced job cuts that would enable high performing employees enjoy greater responsibility.

Since the financial crisis, many banks and financial firms are downsizing workforce to improve efficiency and bring down costs. Among major banks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM - Analyst Report) recently announced overall 19,000 job cuts by the end of 2014. Similarly, Bank of America Corp. (BAC - Analyst Report) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS - Analyst Report) announced job cuts to improve overall competence.

We believe that BlackRock’s announcement of job cuts and its decision to mainly focus on organic growth would enable the company to improve its market share. Further, many of the company’s exchange traded funds (ETFs) are in huge demand. Additional emphasis on the growing ETF market will augur well for BlackRock's growth story.

Currently, BlackRock retains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).