David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, September 25, 2019.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon addressed junior bankers’ complaints about increased workload in a message to employees after the results of an internal survey in which one employee called the conditions “inhuman” went viral.
“Let me say to everyone, and in particular to our analysts and collaborators, ‘We realize that people working today are facing a new set of challenges,'” Solomon told Goldman employees in a ballot on Sunday night.
“In this world of remote work, it feels like we need to be connected 24/7,” he said. “We all – your colleagues, your managers, our department leaders – we see it. We are here to provide support and guidance. It is not easy, and we are working hard to make it better.”
The survey, conducted by a group of first-year analysts and first reported by CNBC, showed employees the burnout of 100-hour work weeks and that they asked bosses during a surge in deals fueled by special procurement companies or SPACs.
SPACs raise capital in an initial public offering and use the proceeds to raise a private company and make it public.
Goldman Sachs has earlier introduced a policy to protect weekends, where junior bankers are not expected to be in office from Friday night to Sunday morning.
Amid allegations about the firm’s crushing workload, Solomon Goldman reiterated its commitment to protected Saturdays, promising to take ‘further action’.
“We are strengthening the application of the Saturday rule. We are accelerating our efforts to appoint new junior bankers in investment banking. … We are also more selective about business opportunities that we pursue, and we are working to automate certain tasks in our business, ” Solomon said according to a transcript of the voice memo reviewed by CNBC.
According to the people, the survey was done after a group of dissatisfied analysts teamed up.
The disagreement has its origins in the bank’s technology, media and telecommunications team, according to the people.
Solomon said the bank aims to be a ‘workplace where people can share their problems freely’, before adding that a higher workload is ‘good news’, as it is an ‘opportunity to work closely with our clients’. so many interesting things to work ‘.
‘In the coming months there will be times when we’re going to feel more stretched than others, but just remember: if we all do an extra mile for our client, even if we feel like we’re reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance, ‘Solomon added.