Goldman CEO David Solomon plans paltry bonuses to nudge out laggards

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon isn’t getting ready to fire you in the coming weeks — but he may convince you to show yourself the door.

Insiders at the Wall Street giant say employees are on edge at the start of 2024 following a traumatic year that had kicked off with “David’s Demolition Day” — a chilly morning last January when the bank fired 3,200 employees. 

But this month, with compensation slated to be announced the week after next, laggard employees are more likely to get a piddling year-end payout than a pink slip, according to sources close to the firm.

That’s despite the fact that last year the bank fired underperformers the week before it announced compensation — a practice that can save banks from doling out bonuses to outgoing employees. 

Goldmanites were heartened that Solomon’s holiday audio message to employees last week was far cheerier than it was the year before, when he warned that mass layoffs would begin imminently.

One source described this year’s message as “scripted and rosy.”