David M. Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks during the Milken Institute’s 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, April 29, 2019
Mike Blake | Reuters
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon issued new goals to help boost diversity at the Wall Street bank, including a target of doubling the hiring of entry-level bankers and traders from historically black colleges.
Solomon told employees Wednesday in a staff email that after setting goals last year to hire more Black and Latino employees, the New York-based firm had the “highest representation” of Black workers and a majority of women in its 2020 analyst class.
Analysts, typically recent college graduates, are on the lowest rung of Wall Street’s hierarchy. Associates are one level up, followed by vice presidents and managing directors. The Wall Street model is to hire thousands of entry level workers every year to create a pipeline of talent. Many typically depart for private equity, hedge funds or start-ups.
In 2019, Goldman set “aspirational goals” of having half of all new analysts and entry-level associates hired in the U.S. be women, 11% black, and 14% Latino. By taking in more Black and Latino employees in entry level positions, Solomon hopes to improve the diversity at more senior positions.
The bank said Wednesday that it wanted to have 40% of vice presidents globally be women, 7% black in the Americas and U.K., and 9% Latino in the Americas by 2025.
Solomon also said that the bank would double the number of campus hires from historically black colleges by 2025, although the firm wouldn’t disclose what the current figure is.
