Interns & Goldman Sachs
Business Interns Beware
Not yesterday, but a week ago yesterday, I opened my apartment door and gathered together the Sunday collection of newspapers that various delivery people had dropped off. Diligently, I worked my way through one New York Times section after another. Then, I picked up the New York Post. Somewhere in the first ten pages or so, I came across a headline that nearly caused me to spit my third cup of coffee all away across the room.
Under the headline, “Repeat racist jokes, sleep with female interns: Tips for succeeding at Goldman Sachs revealed,” New York Post reporter Natalie O’Neill wrote about a “survival guide” for the prestigious Wall Street firm’s interns posted on the GS Elevator blog. The “tips” for young professionals starting work include: “Always repeat racist jokes in the proper company and be sure to credit ‘the other intern’ who told you;” Don’t wear Hermes ties, ever. You have to earn it;” and “If your boss is Indian or Pakistani, learn the rules of cricket.” Here’s the one that caused me to spit: “Bang a [female] intern, and tell the associates and above about it. If they haven’t done it, they sure as hell always wanted to. They’ll respect you for it.”
What was Goldman Sachs’s response? O’Neill wrote that a Goldman spokesman said he doesn’t know the identity of the blogger, adding, “He sounds like an investment banker from the ‘80s.” That’s it.
In the more than one week that has transpired, no one at Goldman Sachs has denounced the survival tips. No one has ferreted out GS Elevator and said his comments are inconsistent with the culture of the firm. No one has stood up and stated unequivocally: “We respect the mental talent that each and every one of our interns—male and female alike—bring to the workplace. We bring them to Goldman Sachs to work and work hard. We find any suggestion that some of our interns may be subjected to sexual predators at work to be abhorrent. We will do everything necessary to ensure no one is subjected to unwanted sexual advances at work.”
What astounds me most is the complete absence of outrage that the blog posting has engendered. Goldman Sachs reports that 17,000 college students apply for its internship program. Why haven’t our nation’s business schools, the very institutions of higher learning that send their students to Goldman Sachs and their ilk, collectively denounced the remarks? What about the parents who spend a fortune to send their children to a prestigious business school in the great hopes that their child may get a job at an investment firm? Is Goldman Sachs the place you want your daughter to land? For heaven’s sake, has everyone forgotten that Goldman Sachs took $10 billion in TARP funds? Every member of Congress should be asked: Is this what we've propped up? An investment firm that pleads ignorance when an employee promotes "bang . . . and tell"?
A great, big investment firm like Goldman Sachs can’t be held responsible for the miscellaneous musings of every one of its employees. However, GS Elevator’s survival tips, and the investment firm’s lack of reaction to that posting, suggests something’s wrong, seriously wrong, with the Goldman Sachs culture. Mark my words, ignoring this will have repercussions—maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this year. But eventually, this will come back to haunt . . . all of us.
What Do You Need to Know?
Some behavior is inexcusable.
comments powered by Disqus
