A stinging offer leaked by disgruntled Goldman Sachs analysts outlining 100-hour weeks, declining mental health and threats to quit has garnered little sympathy from City bankers.
Exhausting hours are, after all, a rite of passage.
“Honestly, I did it all and no one gave it a chance at the time,” said a London-based investment director of an investment bank about the survey – a 11-page presentation by 11-page Goldman analysts those stressed. work in the lower ranks.
The document has garnered an explosion of attention online and sparked a debate over whether complaints about such conditions are justified among workers with sky-high salaries and dazzling future career prospects. Goldman said he met with the 13 analysts, as well as their peers, to discuss what could be changed. The analysts proposed an 80-hour limit and a policy of holding a pencil down, 12 hours before a meeting. The bank is also hiring more analysts and will try to automate more work.
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“Should I pity them? No, there are 10,000 people who want their jobs and they are paid more than any other sector. That’s what we all had to go through,” said another managing director.
“The Goldman listing shows a legitimate problem that has been going on for many, many years,” said a managing director at a major U.S. investment bank. “The news here is that nothing has changed, and that it is not going to happen.”
One global head of investment banking at a major European player admitted that the pandemic was severe for junior staff, especially those who joined during Covid-19 exclusion conditions and had to deal with an increase in workload.
“Everyone is exhausted,” he said, adding that he hosted a round table with 100 juniors, expressing their concern about the sustainability of the hours. “Activity thrives, and it’s very challenging for everyone at this point.”
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Junior bankers struggled during the pandemic. In August, juniors who contacted FN said they were close to burnout as managing directors expected them to be online at all times. JPMorgan has launched virtual boxing lessons and escape room games to keep juniors busy this year, while both Citigroup, Goldman and UBS have tried to offer greater access to senior bankers.
And amid growing tensions, banks were extraordinarily busy. The coalition found that investment banking services revenues reached $ 194 billion last year, up 29% from 2019 and the best performance in a decade. In 2021, investment banks earned nearly $ 25 billion, which according to Dealogic promises to be a record start to the year.
One senior banker acknowledged that the departure of analysts and associates has increased over the past few months as the workload has increased amid the record flow. “I tried to hire two people to hire last week. One had already stopped and the other wanted to leave banking completely,” he said.
The cruel life of junior bankers has been highlighted at various points over the past ten years, but insiders point out that nothing has really changed. In 2013, the death of Bank of America intern Moritz Erhardt – who collapsed from an epileptic seizure after working 72 hours straight – prompted banks to limit working hours, including weekend protection. Meanwhile, a twelve-year study by Dr. Alexandra Michel, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, became an academic and conducted extensive research on the industry, showed a variety of health issues among junior bankers working hard hours.
“Analyzes of analysts are increasing year after year as there are retirement opportunities, and this generation wants a more rounded existence,” says Logan Naidu, CEO of bank recruiters Dartmouth Partners, which focuses on junior and middle class bankers. “The recruitment market for analysts is definitely very busy and there is a combination of growth and hiring.”
At the junior level, banks usually move people who work in less busy areas to the areas where business is on the rise. One senior banker said he has a team of people known internally as the “Avengers” – a reference to the Marvel comic book characters where a group of diverse superheroes team up to tackle a crisis – which is usually M&A transactions will work and transition to restructuring during busier times. This has not been possible in the past year as all units are running at full speed, he said.
“Sundays are busy with work and everyone works super-late every night,” said one director at a U.S. bank. “It’s almost unfair to just focus on juniors, but it’s certainly more than others.”
U.S. investment bank Jefferies sent a memorandum to its 1,124 analysts and associates worldwide on the day the Goldman offer was leaked, saying they had a one-year subscription for a Peloton bike, a home exercise system or an Apple Watch would present as a sign of that. “deep appreciation” for their work over the past year.
“If Goldman really changes, the other banks will have to follow,” a junior banker said on condition of anonymity. “Analysts are liquid and they can do the same job at any bank.”
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