Goldman Sachs analysts say they work 95-hour weeks and endure “inhuman” treatment

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About a dozen first-year analysts say they work an average of more than 95 hours a week, sleep only five hours a night and endure abuse at work. Most of them say that their mental health has deteriorated significantly since they started working at the investment bank.

“There was a time when I didn’t eat, take a shower or do anything but work from morning until after midnight,” says one analyst in the report.

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

The bank says it listens to the concerns of its employees and works on solutions.

“We recognize that our people are very busy because the business is strong and the volumes are at historic levels,” the bank said in a statement. “A year after Covid, people are understandably quite stretched and that’s why we listen to their concerns and take several steps to address them.”

Few people who enter the mundane world of Wall Street would expect a nine-to-five. But analysts in the poll are essentially arguing with their employer to limit their weekly working hours to 80.

“This is beyond the ‘worker’ level,” said one. “This is inhuman.”

One hundred percent of respondents said that their hours affected their relationships with friends and family. About three-quarters of analysts said they felt they had been abused at work and sought or thought to seek help with mental health issues.

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

Virtually all analysts said they felt pressure from “unrealistic deadlines” and were avoided or ignored during the meetings. Their report also provided management solutions to help remedy the situation.

“In order to do the best job and deliver for the company’s customers, we need to be rested and free to juggle an insurmountable amount of conflicting workflow,” the group said.

Although Wall Street banks, and especially Goldman, are known for high salaries and even higher bonuses, this is not always the case for first-year analysts – the bottom of the financial food chain.
A Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the compensation. A Business Insider report last year estimates that first-year investment bank analysts at Goldman and other top firms can expect a base salary of about $ 91,000.

The survey’s findings contradict the lighter image Wall Street banks have tried to portray in recent years. Faced with increased competition for the talent of the Silicon Valley denim and hooded crowd, large banks have weakened their official dress and tie codes and extended family leave policies.

Goldman also sought to protect junior banks’ weekends with a “Saturday rule” requiring analysts to leave the office from 9pm on Friday to 9am on Sunday, except in rare cases. (This rule, according to survey analysts, is not always followed.)

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