Goldman Sachs has been firing traders again

Thomson Reuters

Goldman Sachs has been cutting jobs again.

The US bank cut 30 traders and salespeople across equities and fixed income in New York earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It's the latest round of cuts at the US bank. It cut staff in its securities business in May, and earlier this month filed to lay off nearly 100 employees in New York.

A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

The cuts come at the end of a tough first half for investment banks. The first quarter was especially weak, and while the second quarter has been better, the conditions still aren't all that favorable.

Jefferies described the markets as "merely stable versus robust" when it reported revenues for its fiscal second quarter, which ended on May 31.

Separately, Eric Kramer, a managing director in high-yield credit sales at Goldman Sachs, has decided to leave the bank, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kramer was named managing director in 2013 and is a long-serving and well-regarded member of the credit-sales team.

The layoffs and Kramer's departure follow the news earlier this week that Joseph Mauro, the head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities European hedge fund sales at Goldman Sachs, has left.

The departure is the latest from Goldman Sachs' fixed-income business. Dalinc Ariburnu, Goldman's cohead of global fixed income, currency, and commodities sales, recently left the bank. Jim Esposito, who was recently promoted to chief strategy officer of the securities division, has replaced Ariburnu while also continuing in his strategy role.

Tom Cornacchia, Goldman Sachs' global cohead of sales, has been surprisingly blunt about a shift in the fixed-income division that is causing some "awkwardness" and "friction."

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