Barclays sweatshops?
Does barclays NYC have any coverage groups that would classify as a sweatshop??
Brother going through group placement
Thanks
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, Barclays NYC does have some coverage groups that are known for long hours and intense workloads, which could be classified as "sweatshops." Specifically:
On the other hand, groups like Consumer Retail are noted for having a better culture, while Tech, Media & Telecom (TMT) is described as not being a sweatshop and having a more balanced lifestyle.
Your brother should weigh the trade-offs between workload, culture, and exit opportunities when making his decision. If he’s looking for a less intense experience, he might want to avoid Industrials and P&U.
Sources: Best Coverage Groups at Barclays & Group Networking, Examples of a "bad" group culture and sweatshop or just "standard" in banking?, Barclays vs Guggenheim IBD (New York), Wells Fargo Groups, Chicago BB and EB Ranking
del
No sweatshops compared to the true sweatshops in IB. However, industrials probably has the worst combination of dealflow and seniors absolutely cranking their deal teams.
Honorable mentions to tech, healthcare, pu&i, and sponsors as well. Sponsors tends to run pretty lean. The other three just have rough hours because of more live processes and dealflow than other Barclays groups.
Is Industrials a lean group? Few analysts?
Not lean but the space is quite broad and has a lot of companies to cover so rough hours
Industrials
does he plan to stay in banking, lateral or exit to PE?
Curious to know more if you can share
Del
bump
Tech had the worst hours 2020 - 2024. Industrials was a close second but is now the leader in hours again.
Feel like you have to differentiate between busy groups with good dealflow and just an awful group environment.
Tech, sponsors, and hc had crazy dealflow 2020-2024. However, they have group heads and seniors who fight for their group and support the juniors. Industrials consistently has awful hours, morale, and seniors that want to pitch everything under the sun. They squeeze every bit of work they can out of their analysts/associates...would avoid at all costs in group placement when you can get better exits from sponsors, tech, and hc without ruining your life.
Is it similar for London? How would you rank teams in London (if balancing both exits to PE and hours) Thank you!
Warned by people in the group / different coverage groups to avoid
Its not that bad compared to most EBs and a very good group in the firm.
Heard culture is terrible though and no mentorship
Incoming Canada is gay, but I have heard the Canadian satellite office is an absolute sweatshop and revolving door (particularly after the mass exodus to Jefferies... wonder why that happened?)
Tech, Ind, HC in that order
thinking about this a bit more could make an argument for HC as 2, but in general those three in my experience were the most busy
Know many there across a few groups both at my level and below. The answer below is for the USA only:
Barclays Industrials and HC are rough, but that’s in part due to the nature of the industries. Industrials is broad, and always active, and seniors cover a ton of sub-sectors, so juniors are constantly busy. Barclays has a strong franchise here, which only adds to the workload. HC is no different, big coverage, strong platform, and high deal flow mean it’s a sweatshop by default. It’s not that Barclays is uniquely bad, just that both groups are in inherently grindy industries, and a strong team means more work. Either way, both will be good experiences with exposure to all products, which is I think what analysts really should be optimizing for whether they want to exit into the buy-side or stay in banking as the real way you learn is through deal reps ideally in all products so you get a better sense of everything involved in the IB business.
FIG is hell post 10+ Associate and VP departures in last year
Where'd they end up? How are FIG exits from Barclays generally?
Why
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