WSO 2022 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey (Part 3/3)

Part 1  – Released Thursday April 7th

  • Overall 2022 results     
  • Quotes from a range of employees at various firms

Part 2 - Released Thursday April 14th

  • Comparison of 10 different banks (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and more)
  • A closer look at which banks performed best/worst across various categories
  • Quotes from employees at these banks

Part 3  – CURRENT VERSION

  • Comparisons between 2021 and 2022
  • Deep dive at specific banks on what has improved, what has worsened, and what has stayed the same since 2021

Comparing 2021 to 2022 (Full Survey Data)

Hours and WFH

hours


Treatment

2

Mental and Physical Health

health

Satisfaction and Recommending Your Firm

satisfaction

Comparing 2021 to 2022 (Specific Banks)

Banks included: Bank of America (24 responses in 2021, 14 responses in 2022), Barclays (8 responses in 2021, 13 responses in 2022), Citi (30 responses in 2021, 20 responses in 2022), Deutsche Bank (8 responses in 2021, 19 responses in 2022), Goldman Sachs (33 responses in 2021, 23 responses in 2022), Jefferies (6 responses in 2021, 13 responses in 2022), JPM (21 responses in 2021, 29 responses in 2022), Morgan Stanley (17 responses in 2021, 8 responses in 2022), RBC (9 responses in 2021, 9 responses in 2022).

Bank of America 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 29% responded yes, 50% responded no, and 21% responded N/A.

Bank of America 2021 vs 2022

Bank of America 2021 vs 2022

Barclays 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 38% responded yes, 38% responded no, and 24% responded N/A.

"Tech across all banks get crushed. My mental health was much lower 6 months into the job (first 3 m&a deals all at same time) than it is now (1+ years in)." – Analyst, Barclays Capital

Barclays 2021 vs 2022

Barclays 2021 vs 2022

Citigroup 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 20% responded yes, 50% responded no, and 30% responded N/A.

Citigroup 2021 vs 2022Citigroup 2021 vs 2022

Deutsche Bank 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 16% responded yes, 68% responded no, and 16% responded N/A.

"Long hours, teams half the size of pre-pandemic, pay below street." Associate, Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank 2021 vs 2022

Deutsche Bank 2021 vs 2022

Goldman Sachs 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 35% responded yes, 43% responded no, and 22% responded N/A.

“I moved over from Goldman and its been night and day. Goldman was a death ship and life has gotten much better since leaving. Still banking, hours are still like 80 a week, but that’s way better than 110 hours a week, every week at Goldman.” – Associate, TMT, Boutique

Goldman Sachs 2021 vs 2022

“I left Goldman after 7 months because the filter and the people suck. Throwing more money at us is not the answer. Mental health is.” – Analyst, Bulge Bracket

Goldman Sachs 2021 vs 2022


Jefferies & Company 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 38% responded yes, 38% responded no, and 24% responded N/A.

Jefferies & Company 2021 vs 2022


Jefferies & Company 2021 vs 2022

JP Morgan 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 41% responded yes, 48% responded no, and 11% responded N/A.

"Healthcare group is a sweatshop and 11 people have left in the past 2 months including 6 people to competitor banks." – Analyst, JPMorgan

JP Morgan 2021 vs 2022

JP Morgan 2021 vs 2022

Morgan Stanley 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 17% responded yes, 67% responded no, and 16% responded N/A.

Morgan Stanley 2021 vs 2022

Morgan Stanley 2021 vs 2022

RBC Capital Markets 2021 to 2022

When asked if conditions have improved over the last year, 22% responded yes, 33% responded no, and 45% responded N/A.

RBC Capital Markets 2021 vs 2022

RBC Capital Markets 2021 vs 2022

Related Quotes

"Def better than 2021. Caffeine addiction, stress, heart doesn’t feel great. Team tries to limit weekend work when possible although no protected weekends as such. Access to free massage once a week. Fit in all my gym into a long session every Saturday to not have to train on workdays (to avoid risk of having to cut workouts short). Team is generally very nice to work with and encourage time off if you say you need time off. Have sought therapy mainly due to personal reasons but also work stress." Analyst, BNP Paribas

"Covid / confinement was the main issue, not the firm." – VP, Lazard

Related Posts on WSO:

P.S. A big thank you to Andy Louis, Jacob Nave-Newell and Josh Bañuelos for helping prepare this report.

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WSO's 2022 IB Working Conditions Survey 629.47 KB 629.47 KB
 

Can confirm that things have gotten much better over the past year here. Contrary to WSO's hate-boner for Handler, he and the senior management have done a great job of handling feedback from analysts and have made huge strides in being in touch with and communicating with juniors. It's mainly the MDs that still make things hard sometimes, although Handler & Co have cracked down on senior personnel behavior significantly over the past year.

 
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