Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the kindest of all? Is it David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, who left a voice memo on Sunday night saying how he and Goldman’s managers are working hard to make things better? Is it Jane Fraser, Citi’s newly appointed CEO, who sent a real memo about the need to ‘make the most of now’? Or it’s Jefferies CEO Richard Handler, who is giving his juniors the option to choose from a variety of exercise equipment to help with their physical and mental health.
As we predicted last week, the unofficial survey of Goldman Sachs analysts, in which 13 juniors said they were exhausted for 100 hours a week, is generating a wave of kindness evident to those at the bottom of the banking pyramid of those at the top.
Solomon’s memo, sent on Sunday night (instead of Saturdays, as they are now strictly protected days off), promised juniors a break between 9 pm on Friday and 9 am on Sunday. In a reiteration of Goldman’s statements last week, he said the company is accelerating the recruitment of new juniors to help them and that this will move people from other lines of business where appropriate. “We are also being more selective about the business opportunities we seek and we are working to automate certain tasks in our business,” said Solomon. “… This is not easy and we are working hard to make it better.”
While Solomon was busy articulating Goldman’s response to his mini cultural crisis, Citi’s Jane Fraser was staying ahead of the curve in his third week on the job. The “relentless pandemic workday” has affected everyone’s well-being, Fraser said in a memo posted on Instagram yesterday. To remedy this, Citi is launching ‘Zoom free Fridays’, said Fraser (except for regulatory and customer meetings); audio calls will still continue.
Fraser also called for scheduled calls to take place during business hours, rather than early morning and evening, and urged Citi people to really take their vacation. Citi will offer an extra day holiday in the form of a “reset day” on May 28, she added.
The language of the three CEOs was surprisingly similar. When Handler announced Jefferies’ exercise package last week, he was also “grateful”, wanted to offer “support” and express “appreciation”. The Jefferies package was supposedly designed before the Goldman 100 hour presentation escaped social media, making it even more prescient.
Now that the floodgates have been opened, a flood of similarly worded memos from other bank CEOs is just a matter of time. It is important to note, however, that none of them has yet done what Goldman’s 13 overworked analysts wanted more than anything and guaranteed a work week of no more than 80 hours. As Brian Mullen, the author of the infamous DLJ memo defending the 16-hour days explained here yesterday, this is partly because it is difficult to immediately find extra juniors to ease the burden on those you have. It is also because, well, customers are demanding.
Handler de Jefferies captured the dilemma last week when he noted that there are junior banks between “customer demands” and “Jefferies’ drive to meet their needs”, which seems like a difficult place to be. Solomon, who had previously been uncomfortable with juniors’ long lunches on working days, ended his voice memo extolling the virtues of customer service. “Remember: if we all take a step further for our customer, even when we feel like we’re reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance,” he said. In other words, workweeks or no more than 80 hours are not really possible if they compromise customer service.
Separately, it is not just bankers who are struggling with overwork: lawyers and consultants as well. Speaking to the Financial Times, a partner at a law firm lamented the new world people are in, “stuck at home doing unglamorous work in their rooms. “
A trainee lawyer at a company said the block had removed the things that made the job bearable: “Before the pandemic, work drinks and the possibility of escaping on short annual vacations made the relentless pace of work worthwhile. Now, without the distractions of advantages and with more space to consider our options, it is becoming increasingly obvious to some of us that we have made questionable life choices. “
About that…
Solomon wants other analysts to know that it is okay to complain. “In this case, it is great that this group of analysts has gone to their management. We want a workplace where people can share their concerns freely. Therefore, we want to encourage all of you to take the opportunity to speak to your management. If there is a problem, do not hesitate to ask for help. ”(Guardian)
Pitchbooks can be 50 pages long, but Citi has a new plan to limit them to 15 pages and no more. Something called ‘Florescer’ was also launched, which encourages the team to take at least an hour off during the day to do something for themselves. (Financial News)
Senior employees – trapped at home with the children – will be much more tempted to push tasks down the food chain. They had to go through this and survived, right? It is this attitude that is most difficult to change. (Bloomberg)
Goldman Sachs’ stock rose 132% last year, compared to JPMorgan’s 84% and 62% to the S&P 500. (NY Post)
Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein said the bank may close its asset management unit after the Greensill case. (Bloomberg)
Problems with Credit Suisse’s Greensill have been traced to insurance broker Marsh & McLennan. “They did not identify any warning signs, even when questioned … The only comment they gave was that the cost of insurance would increase due to Covid.” (Financial Times)
Advantages and disadvantages of life in Frankfurt. “You feel disconnected from the coldest chats you have when you’re at HQ,” he said. “But business activity is increasing, Frankfurt is becoming more cosmopolitan and we think it was the best place where we could raise a child from the main European financial centers.” (Financial News)
Leon Black is leaving Apollo. “The public’s relentless attention and media scrutiny. . . they hurt my health and made me want to stay out of the spotlight for a while ”. (Financial Times)
Nomura hired Simon Russell from Macquarie as head of investment bank in technology, media and services. (Financial News)
BlackRock hired a law firm to conduct an internal review of “employee misconduct” reports regarding sexual discrimination and harassment. (Financial Times)
Two women came to Bloomberg with new allegations against hedge fund manager Crispin Odey. Odey’s lawyer said they vehemently denied it. (Bloomberg)
Third Serving no Unsplash photo
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