Goldman, Credit Suisse to cut about 2,000 jobs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Credit Suisse Group (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Friday said they will cut about 2,000 job worldwide as a credit crisis puts a damper on fixed-income trading and corporate dealmaking.

Goldman Sachs, the most valuable U.S. investment bank by market capitalization, plans to cut its global work force 5 percent, targeting the worst-performing employees.

The reduction at Goldman, which employs about 30,500 worldwide, represents about 1,500 employees. The winnowing is something Goldman does every year, the company said.

Credit Suisse said it will cut about 500 jobs, mostly in its investment banking operations.

"Due to market conditions and projected staffing levels required to meet client needs, we are reducing headcount by approximately 500 across the investment banking division, primarily in the global securities department," the company said in a statement.

The payroll reduction figure includes 150 investment banking jobs Credit Suisse is cutting in Britain, which were announced earlier this week, said Bruce Corwin, a spokesman for the bank.

But the Swiss bank also said it plans to hire several hundred people in areas with revenue growth potential.

Goldman and Credit Suisse have been relatively unscathed by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. And Goldman's investment banking revenue surged 47 percent to nearly $2 billion in the three months that ended November 30.

But Credit Suisse's investment bank was hit by write-downs of more than 2.2 billion Swiss francs ($2 billion) in November. That is far less severe, however, than what happened at archrival UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which has disclosed $14.5 billion in write-downs.