Goldman Sachs is to increase junior bankers’ pay just months after staff complained of ‘inhumane’ working conditions and 95-hour weeks.
Pay reviews
Although no formal announcement about the salary increase has been made, it has been widely reported that first year analysts, who currently receive $86,000 (£61,800), could see their basic pay before bonuses increase to $110,000; second year analysts $125,000; and the more senior first year associates $150,000.
Goldman Sachs has declined to comment on the pay rise, but an internal announcement is expected this week.
It comes as a former Goldman Sachs banker and ex-CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Xavier Rolet, criticised younger employees for being “entitled” and said they should stop complaining about long working hours or find another job.
Earlier this year, a group of junior bankers threatened to leave Goldman Sachs unless the bank addressed a long-hours culture which saw them regularly work 95-hour weeks. Their survey of junior colleagues found some only slept five hours a night and felt their mental health was in decline.
Rolet said he would often work 130-hour weeks when starting out his career in the 1980s, “We’d work the whole New York trading day in the office, have dinner on the desk then trade Asia and Tokyo from 8:00pm until 10:00pm, go home during the half-day recess and trade the Tokyo afternoon session from home from 12:00[am] to 2:00am.
“Grab some shut-eye until 4:00am to put our orders in the European markets in time for the opening… quick commute to 40 Wall to be in the office by 6:30am to continue to trade our European orders in time for the pre-opening in New York. Tokyo was open on Saturdays and half day every other Sunday in those days.”
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Since being presented with the results of the junior bankers’ survey, Goldman Sachs said it had taken steps to address employee burnout among its teams.
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