Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history, said it may fire as many as 5 percent of its employees, or 1,500 people, over the next few weeks to weed out underperformers.

``As we do every year, we are reviewing the performance of the bottom 5 percent of our people and some number of them will be leaving the firm,'' said Lucas van Praag, a spokesman for the New York-based company. ``In most years we ask a significant percentage of that 5 percent to leave.''

Goldman earned a record $11.6 billion last year after skirting the subprime collapse that caused historic losses at competitors such as Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear Stearns Cos. Banks and brokers have eliminated more than 25,000 jobs in the past six months as they racked up $136 billion of writedowns and credit losses tied to mortgage securities.

``This is about performance, not layoffs,'' van Praag said of Goldman's job cuts.

The firm set aside more than $20 billion in compensation for its 30,522 employees last year, or an average of $661,490 per person, the most of any Wall Street firm.

The worst U.S. housing market in 26 years has curbed economic growth and cut profit outlooks. Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse Group are eliminating about 1,640 jobs, people familiar with the firms said yesterday.

`Cautious' Outlook

David Viniar, Goldman's chief financial officer, said last month that the firm is ``cautious about the near-term outlook for our business.'' He also said he expects Goldman will add employees at a slower pace in 2008 than in 2007, when the workforce grew by 15 percent.

``I would expect we will grow less than 15 percent next year,'' Viniar said in an interview on Dec. 18. ``I don't know the exact number yet, but I think it will be smaller than that.''

Earnings per share at Goldman are expected to decline 9 percent this year compared with last year, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Analysts have underestimated Goldman's earnings in each of the last 10 quarters.

Goldman fell $7.48, or 3.8 percent, to $191.37 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange at 4:09 p.m.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 25, 2008 16:09 EST