The real issue for the Company was the under-representation of women and diverse professionals, both in magnitude and levels of seniority.
Goldman Sachs’ CEO, Lloyd Blankfein and COO, David Solomon, have committed to achieve 100 per cent diversity by 2021. In a letter to the employees, the duo wrote, “We are committed to having women represent 50 per cent of our global talent over time. An important first step is to have women make up 50 per cent of our incoming analyst class.”
At Goldman Sachs, women and men in similar roles with similar performance are paid equally.
Lloyd and David highlighted that the real issue, for their company as well as many other organisations was the under-representation of women and diverse professionals both in magnitude and levels of seniority.
The internal mail reads, “It is incumbent upon us to operate with a heightened focus on driving greater diversity in our hiring and promotion decisions to sustain and enhance our culture. Ultimately, we must ensure Goldman Sachs continues to be one of the best institutions to come and build a career in.”
They agreed that effecting change requires time, and that the collective focus of people and new thinking will drive incremental, but meaningful, progress.
Goldman Sachs will focus intensely on hiring the best, most diverse talent. “We have set for ourselves an aspirational goal as part of a more deliberate approach toward building a workforce that represents the communities where we live and work. We also need to hold ourselves accountable for providing more opportunities to women and diverse professionals, to rise to the highest levels of our firm,” the letter to the employees said.
They urged the team to take the time to learn more about opportunities to participate in and engage with the firm’s focus on diversity and inclusion.