Wall Street is Celebrating EA’s Blockbuster Deal. Will Hiring Follow?

Wall Street’s M&A rebound got a boost on Monday with the biggest take-private buyout in years, but experts are warning that the hiring landscape isn’t showing the same signs of revival.

Video game producer Electronic Arts on Monday said it would be sold for $55 billion in a transaction hammered out by bankers at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. The price tag marks it the biggest take-private deal since the M&A boom in 2007 that preceded the global financial crisis. Though that’s welcome news for everyone’s league tables, it doesn’t stand to do much for their job boards, insiders said.

“Even a deal of that size is not going to move the needle that much” on year-end bonuses and job opportunities at Wall Street banks, said Alan Johnson, a compensation expert and founder of the consultancy Johnson Associates.

Dealmakers kicked off 2025 anticipating a cascade of M&A opportunities, but tariff concerns in the first half of the year temporarily halted growth. Though M&A is ticking up and big deals like the EA transaction certainly help, experts who spoke to Business Insider said the market for jobs has yet to return to the frothy levels reached during the pandemic, when global dealmaking broke new records.

“I would not be effusive that hiring is back. I think firms are still cautious,” Johnson said. “It’s probably gone from negative to flat,” he said of bank hiring levels, adding that AI will shrink analyst and associate classes, leading to fewer open roles over the long term.

The rise of artificial intelligence will also lessen the need for some bankers by automating time-intensive tasks. “You don’t need three analysts” on a deal, Johnson said, referring to Wall Street’s youngest ranks. “You need one analyst.”

Johnson expects most bankers will be paid more this year, but increases will be modest. “Most people are going to get paid more this year. I think if you’re really good,” the year could hold promise, he said. “If you’re average, not so much.”

Business Insider / September 30, 2025