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Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

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Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#91

Post by alkonaut »

This is why good labor protection laws is good nor just for blue collar workers. If I took a position at one of these banks in Sweden they might have the impression I’m willing to work 50 or 60 hour weeks. Once it becomes clear to them I’m not working more than 40, they’ll still owe me several months pay to get rid of me if that doesn’t suit them. They really can’t afford to hire people and hope they live up to these ridiculous hours.

The only way to get people to do it would be to hire people on rock bottom salaries and only pay well once they prove they’ll work the 80h weeks, or keep a lot of of the comp as bonuses that pays out after a long employment. In neither of those cases I’d be interested in being employed there.

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#92

Post by valuearb »

minikites wrote: post #90
valuearb wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would we do without nerds to type commands into an editor? When you don’t understand what another persons value really entails, it’s easy to make fun of. Warren Buffett is in finance, has never used a spreadsheet, and built a business that employs over 400,000 people.

Look at the charts here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financialization Their entire job is to inflate the price of existing assets. There is no other productive purpose, this money is not being re-lent for people to start businesses and it is not serving any other practical purpose, it's literally "number go up". >The securities that were so instrumental in triggering the financial crisis of 2007-2008, asset-backed…

I think your ignorance is breathtaking.

All of that money is either investments, loans or hedges. Just because they got mis-priced in 2006 doesn’t mean CDOs aren’t a useful financial tool.

Warren Buffett also wrote derivatives. They are useful contracts for hedging and insurance.

The financial industry dies far more than just CDOs. Do you think there is no place for market making, investment management, underwriting, etc, etc?

I guess by making a companies stock and debt easier to market to a wider range of customers is “inflating” their value?

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#93

Post by valuearb »

minikites wrote: post #89
valuearb wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you would prefer them to work only 40 hours per week, and pay Goldman Sachs the difference in value they are accruing?

No, I'm saying that if they work more than 40 hours in a week, they get overtime pay at a higher rate than their usual pay instead of working 90 hours and getting paid for 40. Maybe an extra tax on Goldman's end so they're discouraged from scheduling people in this way.

The end result would be to force first year hires to work for free as interns, since their job involves a massive transfer of value from GS to them in terms of future earnings.

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#94

Post by ipsi »

leesec wrote: post #73

Working on a cement tug and barge we worked 12 hours a day 28 days at a time. But the best part was it wasn't even consistent 12x12. It was usually 6x6x6x6 and sometimes sporadic, so you never had time to get good sleep. Also on your off hours you were just on the boat still. I burnt out of this industry but if anyone made a spreadsheet like this they woulda been laughed off the boat and probably subject to all sorts…

Were you working 28 on/28 off (or 14 off/etc)? If so, that would be fairly different to working 80 hours/week, 52 weeks a year.

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#95

Post by jswrenn »

dempseye wrote: post #35

1. They are all lying. They are not working productively for 95 hours a week. At most they are *present* for 95 hours a week. It is not humanly possible to maintain mental focus for that long. Everyone who says it is telling macho lies. It might be possible to get close to it for a week or two with stimulant drugs, but eventually you will have to pay the piper. 2. It is no secret that Goldman expects self-destructive…

Where do they claim to be "working productively for 95 hours a week"? And are these the "macho lies" you're referring to:

- “I can’t sleep anymore because my anxiety levels are through the roof”

- “My body physically hurts all the time and mentally I’m in a really dark place”

- “Being unemployed is less frightening to me than what my body might succumb to if I keep up this lifestyle”

It doesn't sound like this person knew the degree of abuse they were signing up for:

- “I didn’t come into this job expecting a 9am-5pm’s, but I also didn’t expect consistent 9am-5am’s either”

Nobody really signs up to be abused. They sign up because they're the sort of college grads who've handled every other challenge that's been thrown at them, and “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” doesn't sound any different.

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#96

Post by kangnkodos »

Fiahil wrote: post #66
asmr wrote: post #38

I had a boss that has a son that works at Goldman. He says that it's an "initiation" period meant to weed people out before you make the real money.

What is "real money" ? how much would you earn after five years there ?

Some of the people are hired into the program right out of college for two years. Most of these people are told that they should look for work elsewhere at the end.

(Other people are just hired and are not in the program.)

It's very competitive, so people work hard to try to make the cut.

In the US, if you make that cut, you have a chance to get promoted to Vice President, then Managing Director, then Partner.

The pay varies depending on your performance and the financial results of your part of the company and the company as a whole that year. Some people think a Managing Director can make about $1M per year, and a Partner can make about $5M per year. But no one really knows, and there are a lot of variables. I saw a NYT article that claimed that one particular Partner earned over $50M in one particular year.

I think when people right out of college are working all those hours, they are fighting for a chance to some day become Partner.

Re: Goldman Sachs Working Conditions Survey

#97

Post by leesec »

ipsi wrote: post #94
leesec wrote: post #73

Working on a cement tug and barge we worked 12 hours a day 28 days at a time. But the best part was it wasn't even consistent 12x12. It was usually 6x6x6x6 and sometimes sporadic, so you never had time to get good sleep. Also on your off hours you were just on the boat still. I burnt out of this industry but if anyone made a spreadsheet like this they woulda been laughed off the boat and probably subject to all sorts…

Were you working 28 on/28 off (or 14 off/etc)? If so, that would be fairly different to working 80 hours/week, 52 weeks a year.

28 on 14 off but the 14 included travel time to and from the boat. Was closer to 12 days.
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