Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has cut 10 percent of its global workforce in the past year, will trim its equity research team in Japan as early as this week, two sources said Tuesday.

Kunihiko Shiohara, codirector of Japan Investment Research, is among analysts who will leave the company by the end of March, the sources said. Goldman has about 70 people on its equity research team, down from a peak of 110 in November 2006.

Demand for equity analysis is dwindling as overseas investors abandon Japanese stocks, with a net ¥1.23 trillion sold in the first seven weeks of this year.