Surely it couldn’t be the money that makes people happy? The blogosphere is alternatively bemused and cynical about the results of an online survey posted by careers consulting site Vault.com which found – surprise surprise – that Goldman Sachs is the best financial firm to work for, drawing a “prestige score” of 8. 397.
Buy-out group Blackstone came a close second, with a prestige rating of 8.312 followed narrowly by JPMorgan with a score of 8.272.
The top 50, ranked by a total of 1,328 banking professionals aross 80 firms in and outside the US from April 2010 through June 2010, goes down from there to number 50, Memphis-based Morgan Keegan & Co, with a prestige score of just 1.491. That, revealingly, is not much lower than Lloyds Banking Group, which was ranked 45th with a score of just 1.596, and Brown Brothers Harriman at No. 47 with a 1.513 score.
The New York Post, which spotted the story, quoted Vault’s finance editor Derek Loosvelt saying: “Employees at the firm also noted that — the media attacks aside — Goldman is still a great place to work, and that’s reflected in its No. 1 ranking”.
In its annual survey, the consultant asked employees of the firms about their total working hours, how content they were with compensation and how much the prestige of the institution factored into drawing new hires.
And this year, for the first time, instead of simply listing the top firms based on perceived prestige in the industry, Vault says it asked the banking professionals what mattered most to them in choosing an employer. Vault continues:
…what professionals told us was that prestige is not the most determining factor. In fact, 38.6 percent of all banking professionals we surveyed told us “firm culture” was the most important factor, while only 15.7 percent cited “prestige” as most important. The other top factors, in order of importance, were: location (8.8 percent), lifestyle/work-balance (6.7 percent), compensation (6.6 percent) and training opportunities (also 6.6 percent).
So there you go, it’s not just the prestige – and it’s certainly not the compensation; most of all, it’s that old “vampire squid” culture that keeps the staff happy at Goldman.
As DealBook noted, Goldman’s HR is possibly better than its PR.
Related links:
A 99% depreciation in the worth of Blankfeins – FT Alphaville
A welcome plunge in rankings for Wall St’s finest – FT Alphaville
Bonus neurosis, revisited: Mine’s bigger than yours – FTAlphaville
Media-fuelled Goldman bonus neurosis – FTAlphaville