from Hacker News

Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the 'new normal'

by catchmilk on 2/25/21, 9:28 AM with 83 comments

  • by Paulster0031 on 2/25/21, 9:53 AM

    I guess he wants the new recruits to be able to experience the "magic roundabout"

    The investment banking culture is notoriously brutal. Analysts typically work until midnight every day. Deals are unpredictable, deadlines are short and clients are demanding. There is a ritual known in banking circles as the “magic roundabout” — a graduate leaves his or her desk in the early hours of the morning, takes a cab home, and the taxi driver waits outside long enough for the young recruit to shower and change shirt before returning to the office.

    https://www.ft.com/content/84adb5a4-2e53-11e6-a18d-a96ab29e3...

  • by llampx on 2/25/21, 9:47 AM

    I'm of two minds. I don't think most office work can be done from home all the time, but I think a lot of it can be done efficiently from home. On the other hand I also value the social aspect as well as the easy onboarding in-person.

    For GS, if their competitors are offering better working conditions, their top employees may switch over, leaving them with the ones who don't have a choice. Maybe he would better understand it as saying "Sales employees don't need a nice car or business class tickets or commissions to make sales." Technically true, but if your competitor is offering it you might want to do it as well.

  • by alibarber on 2/25/21, 9:53 AM

    Whilst all this work from home is nice and lovely and whatever, for me I still struggle to overlook this cynical fact:

    I had a space dedicated to work in that my employer paid for. Now I must make a part of my house that space and foot the bill.

  • by bennyp101 on 2/25/21, 9:49 AM

    Let's not forget that the old money institutions are very much stuck in their ways, and there is a culture that goes with it - which is their norm. Newer fintech companies are happy to challenge that norm and modernise it - removing some of that outdated culture.

    On the other hand, I can see why a large money firm would want to have people in the office using devices/assets that are under their control/watchful eye.

  • by apples_oranges on 2/25/21, 9:58 AM

    The mechanisms of the free market should take care of it. Offering WFH is now something a bank (or any other company that is suitable for WFH) can offer as a bargaining chip. It's yet another factor (next to salary, vacation times, prestige, etc.) on which companies can compete for talent.

  • by drenvuk on 2/25/21, 9:59 AM

    Anyone who thinks working at home is going to be the new normal is delusional. If I'm in the office the first people I'm going to talk to are the ones sitting across from me. After that we might move to the whiteboard and forget about everyone else we can't easily pull in.

    The people working at home will be left out and it won't even be deliberate.

  • by pdimitar on 2/25/21, 11:27 AM

    Yeah, he wishes.

    It's undeniable that some work absolutely mandates 100% physical presence. Denying this would be delusional. So when the job absolutely _mandates_ physical presence, sure, do that then.

    But if anything, the pandemic very clearly has shown -- to me and my circle of colleagues and friends at least -- that insisting on a physical presence for IT workers is just being stubborn and backwards 99% of the time.

    I am also not very convinced of the social aspect, watercooler discussions etc. I mean yeah, I miss them too sometimes but strictly speaking they are not a prerequisite for a productive IT worker. It's just a nice bonus. I found out that I can live without them (I am fully remotely working for 10 years now).

  • by say_it_as_it_is on 2/25/21, 10:11 AM

    If you think the CEO of Goldman Sachs is focused on the needs of Summer Interns or new hires, I've got a bridge to sell you. GS can't manipulate its employees as effectively from home as it can in person.

  • by andrejserafim on 2/25/21, 10:09 AM

    Disclaimer: used to work at GS. Left to work remotely in another region.

    GS is a big company. There's lots of people there. Some 8k people are in the tech division. And the employer competition there is not just with other financial firms. But also with the rest of the tech sector.

    So as other commenters say, if other places offer similar conditions, but also remote work. It may be a differentiator. In practise though - working from home for tech some days a week has been totally normal for years. So I expect little actual impact on the company.

  • by myspy on 2/25/21, 10:04 AM

    On-boarding can be done a couple of days in person to learn about each other but I don't think that anything stands in the way to do your regular work from anywhere.

    Obviously you need a cultural change and how you work, as in person communication must be done written. Biggest hindrance in efficiently working remotely when no one is doing that.

    I totally get that these old companies have a problem to adapt. Especially if what someone else here wrote is that you are forced to work long hours just because.

  • by dustinmoris on 2/25/21, 10:05 AM

    I'm not surprised. Unhappy people with low self esteem will always reject any social behavioural changes which are in contradiction to the norms which allowed them to thrive themselves in some snake environment.

  • by _cs2017_ on 2/25/21, 10:03 AM

    Does WFH imply a much better work life balance for investment bankers? Or is the sheer amount of work they can be assigned make it possible to have just as bad work life balance as in the office?

  • by celerrimus on 2/25/21, 10:35 AM

    What’s strange here? I’m working remotely for over 15 years, but still, this is not work for everyone. It’s far from idyllic imaginations of office workers, as grass is always greener on the other side.

    Also, I'm not sure that remote working will work for such businesses as banks, where keeping bank confidentiality may be hard or even impossible to enforce for remote workers. My girlfriend worked at bank once, they were very strict in controlling media drives, notes, even use of personal phones were not allowed near workstations.

  • by obayesshelton on 2/25/21, 10:04 AM

    I think this goes for most companies, I enjoy working from home but I miss the office and the culture during and after work.

    I will be doing a hybrid.

  • by EdwinLarkin on 2/25/21, 10:39 AM

    Work from home has been detrimental to my mental health. Yeah if I had a better flat/house it would have been much better than commuting to the office but not everyone can afford this luxury.

  • by OJFord on 2/25/21, 10:14 AM

  • by christmm on 2/25/21, 9:52 AM

    who would have guessed that a Goldman Sachs Boss, would have showed this level of common sense in these troubling times