Business leaders are ‘optimistic’ on economy, says Goldman CEO

Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc expects to put a tighter leash on hiring this year after embarking on one of the firm’s biggest rounds of job cuts ever, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said.
“We have a much tighter hiring plan in 2023,” Solomon said at a Credit Suisse Group AG conference. “We’re very focused on expenses.”
Goldman last month began implementing a plan to eliminate about 3,200 positions, or 6.5% of the bank’s headcount. The move was meant to address rising expenses and falling revenue and profit. Slowdowns in various business lines, an expensive consumer-banking foray and an uncertain outlook for markets and the economy are prompting the bank to rein in costs.
Merger activity and fees from raising money for companies have taken a hit across Wall Street, and a slump in asset prices has crimped another source of gains for the New York-based company. But Solomon said sentiment among chief executive officers has improved in recent months after predictions last year that the US economy was headed towards a possible recession.
“The consensus has shifted to be a little bit more dovish in the CEO community that we can navigate through this with a softer economic landing,” Solomon, 61, said.