Goldman Sachs subordinates complain about their tiresome routines of working from home for longer than was known – since the pandemic began, in fact.
Last spring – almost a year before a group of first-year analysts created the viral PowerPoint presentation last month, begging to work 80 hours a week instead of over 100 – a group of Goldman newbies set up a similar deck , a few weeks after the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
While the February slide show cites the deteriorating physical and mental health of first-year analysts as they struggle with “inhuman” working conditions, last April’s recently leaked presentation focuses on the basics – computers and food.
“I find myself looking for time to prepare food, which usually involves sandwiches late at night or scrambled eggs, since I work all day,” wrote an underling. “Management should extend the dinner expense policy, as it lessens the stress of worrying about preparing food while working to meet deadlines.”
Specifically, novice bankers said they missed the $ 25 stipend they received for meals when they were forced to work after 8 pm at Goldman’s stylish Manhattan headquarters at 200 West St.
“All analysts reported working after 8 pm for five or more days of the seven-day week,” he lamented the presentation on a number of topics. “The average analyst also worked after 12 noon for five days a week.”
While some employees called for reimbursement for daily meals, others lobbied for a weekly stipend to cover deliveries of frozen food or groceries, citing a different set of concerns.
“Coronavirus can be transmitted through poor kitchen hygiene and I would not ask for this in restaurants, even if covered,” wrote the official.
Elsewhere, subordinates complained that they were not being compensated for the laptops, monitors and mice that they were forced to buy to start working from home. According to the deck, first obtained by the Business Insider (paywall), analysts, on average, spent $ 1,000 on technology equipment – an expense for which rival companies offered reimbursements to employees.
“One of the biggest challenges is the lack of an adequate office environment (high-quality monitor, keyboard, telephone, reliable internet, etc.), ‘said one analyst. “To overcome this, I invested in equipment to continue offering the same performance and quality as the office.”
According to the presentation, food and computer costs were a painful bite to the finances of first-year bankers, who earn about $ 85,000 out of college, not including their bonus, which raises their annual salary to $ 140,000 a year.
“According to our analysis, the cost of WFH equipment amounted to about 35 percent of the average analyst’s remaining money after non-discretionary spending, leaving him with $ 600 at the end of the month (not including travel, credit card payment / student loan, etc.) ”, said the presentation.
The presentation reached senior levels at Goldman, including Will Bousquette, the director of operations for the bank’s global markets division, according to BI. Bousquette spoke directly to junior bankers, and sources said the company’s executives had examined their complaints. Nothing was done, however, according to the report.
A Goldman Sachs representative declined to comment on the contents of the deck or why the bank did not act.
“We are pleased to have built a culture in which employees regularly go to management and share their ideas and concerns,” said Goldman’s head of corporate communications, Nicole Sharp.
“We had in-depth discussions with teams across the company about this and other measures as we moved to work from home last year,” added Sharp. “We continue to have an active dialogue with employees about the steps we can take to address specific issues and requests during this complicated and unusual period.”
The media frenzy during the February slide show spurred Goldman Chief Executive David Solomon to leave a voice memo for employees on Sunday night, promising to “strengthen the enforcement” of a Saturday work rule. .
However, Solomon – who was attacked earlier this month with a report on his recent habit of taking the company’s private jet to the Bahamas on weekends – added that business has been on the rise lately and that “If we all give a I take extra steps for our clients, even when we feel that we are reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance. “