Wall Street is celebrating EA's blockbuster deal. Will hiring follow?

Group 1: M&A Activity - The largest take-private buyout in years occurred with Electronic Arts being sold for $55 billion, marking the biggest deal since the M&A boom in 2007 [2][4] - Global dealmaking has seen significant transactions in 2023, including Google's planned $32 billion acquisition of Wiz and Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $13.4 billion purchase of Juniper Networks [6] - While worldwide deals by volume increased by 32% year-to-date to $2.95 trillion, the total number of deals decreased by nearly 9% [7] Group 2: Hiring Landscape - Despite the resurgence in M&A activity, the hiring landscape in investment banking remains cautious, with hiring levels described as having moved from negative to flat [5] - Senior origination hires are prioritized over support staff, indicating a shift towards needing more experienced talent at higher levels [8] - Experts suggest that even significant deals like the EA transaction may not substantially impact year-end bonuses and job opportunities at Wall Street banks [3][9]