Recently
a group of employees from Goldman Sachs held a panel at Columbia University
that was geared toward recruiting engineers straight from college. Since the financial crisis, there has been a
surge of interest in moving away for the old, slow investment bank
mindset. In order for Goldman Sachs to attract
the same high caliper computer engineers as Silicon Valley, they must provide
as innovative environment as would be found in California. Engineers for years have taken jobs in
Silicon Valley not for the salary benefits but because they know their projects
will directly benefit a global market. Goldman
Sachs may be able to entice engineers through salary compensation but if the
prospective engineers feel as though money is not their main prerogative
Goldman will have issues.
Investment banks for decades have
been seen as large, slow-to-change entities that are high regulated by the
government. Computer scientists will not
take a position where their projects must be regulated and scrutinized by the bureaucrats
that populate financial institutions. Many engineers will speak about Wall Street with a negative connotation arguing that working for financial institutions is a
waste of their talents. Professor Vivek
Wadhwa at both Stanford and Duke states, “It breaks
my heart when my engineering students use the talents I taught them to engineer
the financial system instead of engineering solutions to the world’s problems.” With this mentality being taught in the top
universities around the world, financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs are
truly fighting a losing battle. Institutions must find another method of
recruiting individuals into the financial sector.
Goldman Sachs recently launched
their new engineering website that includes streamlined features, modern look,
and easy to find examples of why working for Goldman Sachs is a desirable career path in which both parties can grow.
The website is obviously geared
toward a younger demographic and very
prominently displays a tab that directs the user to
awards Goldman has recently received in many fields within the world of trading. This shows the prospective recruits that
the firm is one of, it not the best within the sector. Awards in 2014 worth mentioning include “Sellside
IT Department of the Year” by Financial
News and “Most Innovative Investment Bank from North America” by The Banker: Investment Banking Awards. Goldman Sachs must provide an environment that
can challenge these bright young individuals and keep their minds stimulated.
Although they have a difficult task
ahead of them, Goldman Sachs is in the right position to steal many computer
science majors and engineers away from Silicon Valley. Goldman Sachs must reassure the young
employee they will continually be challenged in such a way that will inspire
creativity and growth. I recommend that
Goldman Sachs provide an office space in Silicon Valley that provides the same
workplace experience as many tech companies.
The annexed division will work at a highly efficient level without
having to deal with issues of hierarchy and bureaucracy. Another possibility Goldman Sachs should
explore is the practice of working remotely or the use of satellite offices that can
provide a creative work experience for engineers.
Source:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/goldman-sachs-recasts-its-reputation-to-woo-tech-talent/
http://www.goldmansachs.com/what-we-do/engineering/
http://www.goldmansachs.com/who-we-are/awards/business-awards.html
3 comments:
Pat’s recommendation that Goldman Sachs put an office in Silicon Valley that provides the same experience as working at a tech firm is intriguing, but would be difficult to implement. The culture of Goldman Sachs would have to undergo a major shift to allow this to occur. Furthermore, it may only end up solving the materialistic and aesthetic issues that keep students from joining financial institutions. The bottom line remains that well-educated and technologically savvy young people may want the type of job that they perceive companies like Goldman Sachs cannot provide.
For financial institutions like Goldman Sachs to shift the tides and bring in computer science or engineering students, they must figure out how to convey to students that they can get the same challenging and fulfilling technology-oriented career on Wall Street as they can in Silicon Valley. Misperception is the greatest enemy to be overcome. Technology is completely changing the way financial institutions operate and gain a competitive edge. If students learned that they could drive a financial institution’s business, they would be more likely to join the company. Financial institutions like Goldman Sachs also need to convey to students the importance of the work they would be doing as tech employees. If no other purpose exists but making money (for themselves and for Goldman Sachs) all intellectual appeal will be lost.
This article is interesting and relevant to the surge of investment banking moving away from their old, slower ways and moving toward faster and smarter ideas. This is smart for the engineers to take the jobs in Sillicon Valley not just for the salary benefits but because they know that their projects will directly help benefit the global market. The only problem here is if the salary is set at the right price for the engineers so Goldman can possibly pursue them. This will then lead to Goldman having possible issues trying to keep them around to benefit the market. Another issue Goldman will have to persuade much of the computer scientists who claim that Wall Street is a “waste of talent”. Individuals had to find another method on how to recruit and Goldman Sachs followed with a possible solution. Goldman Sachs recently just launched their new engineering website which will be able to give viewers of the site an idea of why working for Goldman Sachs would be a desirable career. It is a great idea and I believe that it will affectively grab the attention to a younger demographic of computer scientists that are looking at possible professions. This is the goal for Goldman Sachs and I believe that they are headed in the right direction as far as attracting younger computer scientists. This and the fact that Goldman Sachs has been quoted to be the “Sellside IT department of the Year” as well as the “Most innovative Investment Bank in North America” should grab the attention possible future employers. If Goldman sticks to this approach then I think that it most definitely will keep computer science majors and engineers away from Silicon Valley. I agree that in order to do this the most efficient way is to make sure that their employees are going to be continuously challenged to inspire creativity as well as growth in the financial markets. I also agree with Pat’s point that Goldman should provide an office space in Silicon Valley that would provide a similar workplace experience as other tech companies. Paul raises a good suggestion, I can also see this helping prevent dealing with internal issues of hierarchy and bureaucracy. The last point made in the blog of practicing the use of satellite offices can provide a more creative working environment for the engineers. It is also a good idea to possibly visit some of the top tier computer science and engineering schools in the country and persuade students of those majors to apply to work at Goldman Sachs.
I think this a very interesting article and is a topic that I believe all major companies will need to think about in the coming years. As technology progresses banks and other financial institutions are going to need to stay up to date with the latest and greatest technology. To do this they are going to need to hire some of the best and brightest out there. While nice offices may be a nice perk of the job I do not think it will fix the biggest hurdle they face to hiring the next generation of computer scientist which is culture. These new students are going to have to work under the direction of managers who may not have the same opinion on IT as they do. When these students interview with companies, the startups are going to give them the opportunity to do something that is vitally important to the success of the company but they may not get this feeling at firms like Goldman. Goldman is going to have to train or hire new managers that are able to create a start up like environment. The other part of culture that may be an issue is the lack of creativity in Financial Institutions. I worked with a lady who was a consultant for JP Morgan when they merged with Chase and she said the IT was very black and white. There was not much freedom because it had to do what it needed to do. This may not be attractive to new college grads that are looking to be a little more creative. I think Goldman should embrace innovation and allow it to come from any level in order to attract these students. If every employee is able to suggest new ideas or ways of doing things then they may feel that they are making a bigger impact and are important instead of being another cog in the wheel.
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