Charles Schwab lays off 5% to 6% of its workforce, or about 2,000 employees

NEW YORK (AP) — Charles Schwab laid off about 5% to 6% of its workforce this week, according to a company spokesperson, as the financial services firm works to cut costs.

The company had 35,900 employees at the end of September, according to Charles Schwab's latest quarterly report — meaning this week's cuts could impact roughly 2,000 employees.

“These were hard but necessary steps to ensure Schwab remains highly competitive, with industry-leading levels of efficiency, well into the future," a Charles Schwab spokesperson said in a statement to The Associated Press Thursday. "They are decisions that impact very talented people personally, and we take that very seriously.”

Over the summer, Charles Schwab disclosed plans to cut jobs and close or downsize some corporate offices as part of restructuring efforts to reduce operating costs in the second half of this year and the start of 2024.

The Westlake, Texas-based company previously said it projected to achieve at least $500 million of incremental annual run-rate cost savings — while also incurring about $400 million to $500 million from expenses like employee compensation, benefits and facility exit costs.

For the third quarter of 2023, Charles Schwab posted a net income of $1.1 billion, down from $2.0 billion seen in the same period last year. Revenue was $4.6 billion for the quarter, down from $5.5 billion for the third quarter of 2022.

Charles Schwab shares are down about 34% year to date, but up 3% in Thursday morning trading.