Goldman Sachs currently employs 45,900 people. In the past 12 months, it's cut 3,200 jobs. This has not, however, prevented all kinds of people from wanting to work there.
Speaking on today's Goldman Sachs investor call for its third quarter results, Goldman CEO David Solomon said the firm received one million applications for its jobs last year. Around 260,000 of those were for its 2,600 or so graduate positions. At its February investor day, Goldman said it had 300 applications per open position, implying that it advertised around 3,300 roles last year.
In the circumstances, it might be supposed that Goldman could pay its current staff less and swap them out for some of the many cheaper people who would like the opportunity to work there, too.
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Needless to say, this is not happening. Instead, Goldman appears to be on track to increase its bonuses this relative to last. CFO Denis Coleman said Goldman needs to pay well because competition for its talent is high, and the firm is «mindful» that it must «continue to pay for performance.»
Some of Goldman's businesses (eg. financing) have had record years said Coleman. They will be the «bedrock» of the business for years to come and so Goldman needs to retain its current «talent and unlock returns for the future,» he added. If Goldman doesn't pay well and more of its existing staff leave, the implication is that the business will suffer — even if there are plenty of people queuing up to replace them.
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