Goldman Sachs Exec Suggests Employees Asks Themselves If They're Highly Replaceable

Take a long look in the mirror.

Author:: Bess Levin
Updated:: Jan 14, 2019
Original:: Apr 4, 2016

And, if upon taking that long look in the mirror and posing that question, the answer you come up with is "Yeah, pretty damn replaceable," don't come crying to Goldman partner Marty Chavez.

Mr. Chavez, who was promoted just over two years ago to oversee the company’s 9,000 or so computer engineers — nearly a third of the staff — is pushing the 147-year-old company to, among other things, share more of its data and software with clients. His centerpiece project, Marquee, gives clients access to sophisticated trading data previously available only by phoning a Goldman employee...Some colleagues complain that the company is handing out valuable information while paving the way for job cuts. Mr. Chavez has responded forcefully, according to people who witnessed some of these conversations. “He basically said something to the effect of: ‘If your job is a purely manual job and you are just clicking buttons, you should look to upgrade your skills set now,’” said Adam Korn, a trading executive. “He was pretty direct.”

A Gay, Latino Partner Tests Goldman’s Button-Down Culture [Dealbook]

Don't like it? Cry Lloyd Blankfein a river. Oh, and there's more where that came from.

Getty Images

Thanks to everyone who chipped in by cleaning out their desks.

PartyLloyd

Congrats everyone!

Sad about it. Getty Images.

The House of Lloyd has bid a buncha employees adieu.

The House of Lloyd is making cuts.

Hard on him that it is on you. (Getty Images)

According to Charlie Gasparino, the House of Lloyd is preparing big cuts.

They're gonna need more boxes.

Back in March, a young man named Greg Smith published an Op-Ed in the Times called "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs." Greg wrote that despite joining a firm that, in the beginning, cared about "teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by clients" and not "just about making money," he'd ultimately come to be sickened by a place that, twelve years later, he couldn't even recognize. A place that, on Lloyd Blankfein and Gary Cohn's watch, had lost its way. A place that, he'd come to see, was devoid of any sort of morals, whatsoever. A place that needed to take a long hard look at what it had become. A place that, he predicted, was not long for this earth. Because unlike Smith, whose proudest moments in life-- "being selected as a Rhodes Scholar national finalist and winning a bronze medal for table tennis at the Maccabiah Games in Israel, known as the Jewish Olympics," respectively-- involved hard work and no short cuts, "Goldman Sachs today," Smith wrote, is all "about the shortcuts and not enough about achievements." Goldman Sachs 2.o, one might say, hasn't worked an honest day in its life and that didn't feel right to Smith anymore. The piece, which was said to come as shock to Goldman, did not please many people on the inside, nor did the $1.5 million deal Smith scored shortly thereafter to write Why I Left Goldman Sachs: A Wall Street Story, out October 22. Here's how Greg's publisher describes WILGS: From the shenanigans of his summer internship during the technology bubble to Las Vegas hot tubs and the excesses of the real estate boom; from the career lifeline he received from an NFL Hall of Famer during the bear market to the day Warren Buffett came to save Goldman Sachs from extinction-Smith will take the reader on his personal journey through the firm, and bring us inside the world's most powerful bank. And while higher-ups at GS may have been initially worried about the potentially damaging revelations that would appear in the book, apparently time, a slap in the face and an order to 'get it together you pustulant milquetoasts' by the ghost of Lucas van Praag has resulted in this delightfully bitchy, exceptionally underminery comment from 200 West: “Every day, some young professional, after a decade in a post-collegiate job, reassesses his or her career and decides to move on and do something else,” David Wells, a Goldman Sachs spokesman said Dealbook in an e-mailed statement. “Others can better judge whether Mr. Smith’s particular career transition is of unique interest.” Regardless of whether or not Goldman is correct in its assessment that Greg's sounds like the story dozens of analyst finishing their first year would tell of the "epic" stuff they witnessed during their 12 months of banking (+previous summer internship, during which things got pretty crazy) or if his particular career transition is indeed of unique interest, Dealbreaker will be hosting an evening of dramatic readings of select chapters, with yet-to-be secured GS alum/raconteur/boulevardier Lucas van Praag standing in for the part of Mr. Smith. Venue and ticket pricing to follow. Former Banker Promises A Peek At Goldman Sachs [Dealbook] Earlier: Resignation Letter Reveals Goldman Sachs Is In The Business Of Making Money, Hires People Who Don’t Know How To Tie Their Shoes; Jewish Ping-Pong Tournament Participant / Sixth-Year Goldman Sachs Vice President Is Looking For His Next Challenge; Goldman Sachs Accuser Greg Smith (Might Have) Lied About That Which He Holds Most Sacred