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Absolutely brutal culture and very stiff/formal work environment. Comp and prestige only go so far when they crush you worse than banking
Interesting, is that also the case for the credit team? From what I've heard they've refilled most of the headcount on the PE team, with some very questionable hires I might add. But still struggling to fill credit. Some recruiters are basically begging industry juniors to interview for positions there.
Don't know anything about their credit, just PE - but their culture and turnover issues long predate COVID. Wouldn't be surprised if that culture trickles down to credit, and people are less willing to slog through terrible culture for that type of role
Credit is slightly better in terms of culture in that not everyone is an absolute hardo like the PE side. But you still get worked pretty hard and not totally uncommon for them to pull in junior resources from the equity side to help out on credit deals when their swamped. Credit side definitely feels more disorganized given how new it is.
Regarding the question on replacement hires, I don't think the quality of the newer classes are significantly below historical precedent but its always been a revolving door of junior talent. Some of it is driven by Associates not getting the partner track nod after two years but most of it is voluntary given how brutal the culture can be. These issues definitely got worse during COVID and the top levels are aware of it, but at the end of the day, they're raising +20bn funds and are ultimately focused on deployment / carry realization.
Questionable in what way?
what are the hours actually like though, you guys just say "bad hours, bad hours, horrible hours" can you give a number? Are we talking 90 to 100 a week, every single week, or like 80 hour weeks for 4 weeks straight or ??? Genuinely interested
this is generally right although the whole concept of a “live deal” isn’t the same at other firms - 2/3 of GIP’s deals are on a proprietary/bilateral basis. They hang around the hoops of big strategics doing a shit ton of work upfront vs. lobbing in IOIs as part of an auction process and then throttling down to LOI/post-LOI like you see with most PE firms. All of that is to say the “live deal” sprints are more frequent, often longer, and often resulting in no actionable deal.
Have a friend who works there, place has no value proposition to stay. Comp is not what it used to be -- well below MF street now with bad culture and a stiff/slow promo cycle. People are constantly leaving once they find this out themselves. Good place to learn for 12-24 months but seems you'd be foolish to stay longer.
No one will ever give the actual hours worked at this firm, ever, because you people know the answer and just won't fucking give it for some reason
I can shed some light into this topic, in case helpful for others. Hours have definitely gotten better with the new analyst class, although associates are still expected to work until 10 pm or so every weekday for pure facetime, while also being available all weekend (which can be considered a normal weekday for some). Having said this, it gets pretty intense on active deals and sometimes include all-nighters (not technically "live" as most deals are bilateral). Associate pay was in the $350k range for 2022.
Culture remains poor, unless you're an old dude who has been with the firm for 10+ years. Diversity at the top is nonexistent. There's no career path or recognition (promotion is not merit based), nobody from the top cares about junior staff, and you often hear partners say that "it was worse during my time" or that "everything is better from where I'm sitting". As someone mentioned above, deal flow is very slow and you're often stuck working late on decks that don't go anywhere. Churn is very high and the ones that stay and make to VPs/ Principals tend to reinforce the culture instead of change it.
It has a strong brand name and you learn a lot from smart and experienced people, but 100% agree that it's not a sustainable, long-term gig.
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