Morgan Stanley pledges no layoffs in 2020 in company memo

Morgan Stanley vowed on Thursday not to eliminate any jobs this year as unemployment skyrockets around the country due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. 

CEO James Gorman made the commitment in a company memo obtained by The Hill. The contents of the memo were confirmed by a Morgan Stanley spokesman. 

“While long term we can’t be sure how this will play out, we want to commit to you that there will not be a reduction in force at Morgan Stanley in 2020,” Gorman said. “Aside from a performance issue or a breach of the Code of Conduct, your jobs are secure.”

The CEO mentioned the Federal Reserve’s “extraordinary but … necessary” actions. The Fed cut interest rates to close to zero earlier this month and have announced programs to help American companies survive the financial consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gorman continued by saying that “way too many” of people have lost their jobs overnight and encouraged the government to act “aggressively.” Unemployment claims reached an unprecedented amount at 3.2 million last week. 

“At the end of this year, we will know what we are dealing with, and hopefully the economy will be on the mend by then,” Gorman told the 57,000 employees of Morgan Stanley.

Ninety percent of Morgan Stanley’s staff is working from home, according to the memo.