Morgan Stanley layoffs coming

Global uncertainty may cost some Morgan Stanley employees their jobs

Morgan Stanley is cutting 2 percent of its workforce, according to CNBC.

The cuts set for the investment firm are due to an "uncertain global environment" and will target global roles in technology and operations. The firm has 60,532 employees worldwide, in 41 countries, acccording to the company.

Uncertainty remains on the trade front as U.S.-China talks remain fluid with tariffs approaching Dec.15. Additionally, the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is close to being approved, after toiling in congress for months, as reported by FOX Business.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
MS MORGAN STANLEY 110.46 +2.38 +2.20%
GS THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. 516.30 +12.58 +2.50%
JPM JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 222.29 +9.48 +4.45%
C CITIGROUP INC. 65.74 +2.26 +3.56%

Morgan Stanley shares have gained 25 percent this year, trailing rivals including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup, which are up between 34 and 45 percent.

FOX Business' inquires to Morgan Stanley were not immediately returned.

In a separate report, Wall Streeters will likely be looking at lower compensation in 2019 in large part due to advances in technology.

Options Group forecasts the following average year-over-year changes worldwide in compensation: fixed income, credit, and commodities down by 1.1 percent, investment banking down by 1.8 percent and private wealth management down by 0.5 percent.

However, the hardest-hit group will be U.S. equities traders  — their compensation is expected to dip 9.5 percent overall.

The news comes days after the government reported a blockbuster jobs report for November with the addition of 266,000 positions and a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5 percent, a 50-year low.