After dodging mortgage-related losses that crippled its peers last year, Goldman Sachs is laying off an unusually high number of employees as it faces mounting woes in its leveraged lending and investing portfolios.

Goldman annually culls the bottom tier of its workforce based on performance reviews, affecting everyone from clerical staff to its highest-ranking "partner-managing directors." The process clears the way for new hires and up-and-comers, the company says, but this year's culling is more aggressive.