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Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

reuters.com

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Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#31

Post by DamonHD »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #12

I worked on the American trading floor of a Swiss bank. After the crisis, Zürich decided to reign in us free-wheelers. So they came out with a new dress code [1]: "Among the 'dos' and 'don’ts' for women: 'Make sure to touch up hair regrowth regularly if you color your hair.' Men are commanded to, 'Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape.' Neither sex is allowed to 'allow their und…

Lehman's was suit-for-everyone too, though what was really aggravating (other than women seemingly being allowed to wear beach clothes and forcing the room to be heated until all the men in suits sweated) was the 'dress down' Friday which was a second expensive wardrobe which required a stay-at-home spouse to maintain. So the techies generally stayed in suits on a Friday.

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#32

Post by samstave »

gaius wrote: post #15
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #12

I worked on the American trading floor of a Swiss bank. After the crisis, Zürich decided to reign in us free-wheelers. So they came out with a new dress code [1]: "Among the 'dos' and 'don’ts' for women: 'Make sure to touch up hair regrowth regularly if you color your hair.' Men are commanded to, 'Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape.' Neither sex is allowed to 'allow their und…

Goldman Sachs has always had a ridiculously antiquated dress code for people who will never come within fifty feet of a client. When I was much younger I didn't understand the concept of people who never had to deal with clients having a dress code but now I sorta do: the company is trying to create or promote the concept that everyone in the company is a member of the same team and have more in common with each othe…

You're a part of the same team and you need to wear these outfits which you will likely never wear outside of work, but the huge bonus goes to the client favoring sales team, and no - we won't pay for the garb we require you to maintain the illusion that we are all equals!

Honestly, one of the things I absolutely love about tech/Silicon Valley is nobody cares at all how you dress.

Although, I noticed the sale force offices unofficial uniform:

Brown shoes brown belt designer jeans and some dry-cleaned blue shirt and a blazer...

"Look at how casually uniquely I conform to the office uniform!"

Not judging, I just thought it was funny...

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#33

Post by JumpCrisscross »

gaius wrote: post #15
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #12

I worked on the American trading floor of a Swiss bank. After the crisis, Zürich decided to reign in us free-wheelers. So they came out with a new dress code [1]: "Among the 'dos' and 'don’ts' for women: 'Make sure to touch up hair regrowth regularly if you color your hair.' Men are commanded to, 'Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape.' Neither sex is allowed to 'allow their und…

Goldman Sachs has always had a ridiculously antiquated dress code for people who will never come within fifty feet of a client. When I was much younger I didn't understand the concept of people who never had to deal with clients having a dress code but now I sorta do: the company is trying to create or promote the concept that everyone in the company is a member of the same team and have more in common with each othe…

Common dress absolutely drives a certain esprit de corps. The irony in my example is that the corporate code ruined the informal one we'd developed over the years (white dress shirt, fleece or vest and brown shoes with tan slacks or black shoes with light pinstripes). Before the rebellion, I could identify, on the street, our teams (and who were the interns--black suits with skinny ties, almost all of them). Afterwards, each desk went its own separate way.

In an office setting, dress is better used as a signal than a driver. If your team isn't, over the years, picking up cues from one another then maybe there's a level of social bonding that you, as the manager, are neglecting to forment. (Or your team doesn't have to be that close to be effective.) Social psychology gives a lot away for free if you're halfway perceptive.

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#35

Post by pfd1986 »

eropple wrote: post #26
ashark wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Cialdini's Influence is to be believed, everyone says they don't treat people wearing (or driving) nice stuff better, but subjecting this to scientific scrutiny reveals that they overwhelmingly and significantly do . If that's true then dressing well is pretty damn rational in general, and especially if money's on the line.

100%. I actually grew to like wearing a suit because when you're wearing a suit and somebody else isn't, there's a certain kind of cultural deference you get in many situations that is pretty handy from a business and a social perspective.

That's the exact reason why I hate wearing and even worst ever being forced to wear one.

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#36

Post by jjuhl »

I never got the point of dress codes. When everyone dress (boringly) alike I tend to view them as mindless drones and my respect for them drops to near zero. Show up in some unusual or creative outfit however and I'm so much more willing to believe you are an intelligent and interresting human being.

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#37

Post by JumpCrisscross »

walshemj wrote: post #18
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #12

I worked on the American trading floor of a Swiss bank. After the crisis, Zürich decided to reign in us free-wheelers. So they came out with a new dress code [1]: "Among the 'dos' and 'don’ts' for women: 'Make sure to touch up hair regrowth regularly if you color your hair.' Men are commanded to, 'Schedule barber appointments every four weeks to maintain your haircut shape.' Neither sex is allowed to 'allow their und…

Cuff links FFS - when I dress up (about once a year) I always wear dress shirts with cufflinks. Sounds like the code was written by the sort of person that orders red wine with fish :-) "James Bond: Red wine with fish. Well that should have told me something."

Having grown up in Switzerland, I understand where the advice came from. There, bankers are more servile. It could be seen as inappropriate for a banker to be dressed as if about to enjoy something luxurious. As you observe, however, it translates stupidly across cultures.

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#38

Post by [deleted] »

jackmott wrote: post #16
gaius wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Goldman Sachs has always had a ridiculously antiquated dress code for people who will never come within fifty feet of a client. When I was much younger I didn't understand the concept of people who never had to deal with clients having a dress code but now I sorta do: the company is trying to create or promote the concept that everyone in the company is a member of the same team and have more in common with each othe…

When you attain a certain level of enlightenment and become aware of the mind hacks being employed by the powers that be, well then you can no longer stand them. Or, you chose to take part of them and use as leverage to achieve your goals I Suppose.

[deleted]

Re: Goldman Sachs relaxes dress code for techs in fight for talent

#39

Post by ib_tech_gone »

So, if you want us "techs" to work on antiquated languages like Slang, then cut us some slack in our slacks.

Tech is IB land is billions of dollars, yet, the actual end delivery, the systems, the codebases, the platforms are of a far lower quality than most outside could ever suspect.

Bonus-driven development is partially to blame there though.

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