Bridgewater Fund cuts 7% of its workforce, streamlines its structure and continues to hire selectively

On January 7, Bridgewater, the world's largest hedge fund, cut 7% of its workforce on Monday in an effort to keep the company's organizational structure lean and ensure it can hire top talent flexibly, according to a person familiar with the matter. The cuts affect about 90 employees. The company's current headcount has returned to 2023 levels and will continue to hire selectively, the person said. A spokesperson for Bridgewater said, "For the past three years, Bridgewater has focused on growing fast, setting ambitious goals and going all out to achieve them. This includes being willing to do hard things in good times, such as maintaining high standards and organizational flexibility." Bridgewater achieved double-digit returns for most of its strategies last year, including an 11.3 per cent gain for its Pure Alpha macro fund, which had about $160 billion under management as of July.