Goldman Sachs analysts say they work 95 hours a week and support “inhuman” treatments

Goldman Sachs analysts say they work 95 hours a week and support “inhuman” treatments

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About a dozen first-year analysts say they are working more than 95 hours a week on average, sleeping only five hours a night and being abused in the workplace. Most of them say that their mental health has worsened significantly since they started working at the investment bank.

“There came a point where I didn’t eat, shower or do anything other than work in the morning until after midnight,” said an analyst in the report.

The survey comes from a self-selected group of 13 first-year analysts who presented their findings to management in February, a bank spokesman said. The results of the analysts’ survey started circulating on social media this week and were previously reported by Bloomberg News.

The bank claims to be listening to the concerns of its employees and working on solutions.

“We recognize that our people are very busy, because business is strong and volumes are at historic levels,” the bank said in a statement. “After a year at Covid, people are understandably overwhelmed and that is why we are listening to your concerns and taking a number of steps to address them.”

Few people entering the relentless world of Wall Street banks would expect clean hours from nine to five. But research analysts are essentially pleading with their employer to limit their weekly working hours to 80.

“This is beyond the level of ‘hard work’,” said one. “This is inhumane.”

One hundred percent of respondents said their hours had damaged their relationships with friends and family. About three-quarters of analysts said they felt they had been abused in the workplace and sought or considered seeking help for mental health problems.

“My body hurts physically all the time and I’m mentally in a really dark place,” wrote an analyst in the survey.

Virtually all analysts said they felt pressure from “unrealistic deadlines” and were avoided or ignored at meetings. The report also offered solutions for management to help rectify the situation.

“To do our best work and deliver results to the company’s customers, we need to be rested and free from juggling an insurmountable amount of conflicting workflow,” said the group.

While Wall Street banks, and Goldman in particular, are known for skyrocketing salaries and even higher bonuses, this is not always the case for first-year analysts – the foundation of the food chain in the financial world.
A Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the compensation. A report by Business Insider last year estimated that first-year investment bank analysts at Goldman and other major companies can expect a base salary of about $ 91,000.

The survey’s complaints are at odds with the more relaxed image that Wall Street banks have sought to present in recent years. Facing increased competition for talent from the Silicon Valley hoodie and jeans crowd, the big banks have loosened their formal dress and tie codes and expanded family leave policies.

Goldman also sought to protect junior bankers’ weekend with a “Saturday rule” that forces analysts not to go to the office from 9:00 pm on Friday to 9:00 am on Sunday, except in rare circumstances. (This rule, according to research analysts, is not always adhered to.)

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