Goldman Sachs CEO committed to increase diversity among the bank’s senior ranks
Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon declared yesterday that there is “no excuse” why the bank’s recruits from top U.S. universities are not more diverse and added he wants to move faster to increase diversity among the bank’s senior ranks.
Goldman has set some of the most aggressive and specific ambitious objectives among the big banks. This means that more Black, Latino and female professionals will be and interviewed, recruited, and hired for jobs at the bank.
However, Solomon warned the bank is not increasing diversity fast enough, particularly at the upper echelons.
“I’m not pleased with where the senior leadership of the firm is,” Solomon said of the bank’s predominantly white, male senior ranks.
Last year, Goldman said it wanted 11% of all new analysts and entry-level associates hired in the U.S. to be Black, 14% to be Latino and half to be women to reflect the country’s demographics. It also hoped to have at least two diverse candidates to be interviewed for any senior job opening, and it recently created a committee in the investment bank to track progress toward these goals.
Four out of Goldman’s 11 board directors are women and its lead director, Adebayo Ogunlesi, is Black.
Speaking at a virtual event hosted by the Economic Club of New York, Solomon opened up about the fact that the directors have been critical to the bank’s success, and he has plucked people from various roles and moved them around to different executive committees to increase diversity there, too.
In January, the bank also came up with a rule that any company that wants Goldman's help in going public must have at least one diverse board director first.
“All of us as leaders have to use our platform to shine a light on things that we’d like to move faster,” Solomon declared.
Solomon, an American investment banker and Goldman Sachs chairman for since January 2019, is very committed to creating a more diverse work environment. His commitment to foster a supportive environment that welcomes and celebrates all ideas and perspectives became recently concrete through the creation of the ‘Goldman Sachs Exploratory Program’, an eight-week paid internship program that aims to empower and integrate neurodiverse people into the workplace.
The program is an example of the fervent commitment to cultivating a work experience where people can realize their full potential and thrive as their authentic selves. He also serves on the board of directors of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York City.
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