投資銀行還能吸引人才嗎？
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2013/11/22
2013-11-21 Web only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/fortunelivemedia/ |
高盛的老闆貝蘭克梵（Lloyd
Blankfein）說，高盛非常適合「有意投身於高於個人利益之事」的人。此訊息見於人才招募活動中播放的短片，也貼上了高盛網站的「職涯」頁面。招募短片指出，在高盛工作的主要目標，就是讓有益社會的計畫得以啟動。志願參與慈善活動十分顯眼，幫公司或員工賺錢幾乎隻字不提；影片總結道，「這就是為什麼你要來高盛工作，因為你可以讓世界變得不同。」
各地大學的人才招募季節已然到來，金融企業也開始向潛在員工推銷自己。金融企業知道金融危機重創了它們的名聲，正在全力修正學生心中的誤解；其中一名宣傳人員說道，「你可能在報上讀到了些什麼，但我來這裡是為了讓你們知道，在我們這裡工作的真實情況。」常見的行話一再出現，例如「熱情」、「解決方案」、「客戶第一」等；每位講者都強調，他們的公司與眾不同。
各個企業為了招募人才，皆不惜成本。筆者參加了幾場活動，喝了好酒，也吃了高檔小點（研究公司Sanford Bernstein提供的烤鮭魚最為美味），甚至還有企業提供四菜晚宴套餐。
但招募活動亦明確指出，加入高階金融企業的重點並非追求高檔生活。有位大學職涯顧問表示，金融危機之後，學生變得更注重未來雇主的道德水準。銀行也很清楚這點，因此在招募活動中更加強調社會責任；潛在應徵者會知道，替銀行工作有助全球經濟復甦，還能解決社會不平等。
大型金融企業亦承諾將善待員工。8月的實習人員死亡事件後，美國銀行承諾重新審視工作常規；高盛於本月稍早宣佈，資淺員工再也不必在周五晚上至周日早晨工作──但還是要定期「檢查他們的黑莓機」。
縱使民眾不甚尊重金融產業，金融產業似乎還是吸引了許多天資極佳的年輕人。耶魯大學的2013年畢業的學生裡，約9％進入了金融業；牛津經濟系學生亦有四分之一是如此。統計網站Complete University Guide指出，英國10大學畢業生雇主中，就有3間銀行。高盛今年在歐洲開出350個入門職缺，應徵人數超過2萬人。
新員工是相信了銀行的說法，或是仍舊懷有老派的自利想法，實在無法確知。但不是所有人都那麼高尚：有位參與招募活動的賓客就承認，他來這裡只是因為有免費的酒可以喝。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
The Economist
Recruitment at financial firms
A kinder, more restful capitalism
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: November 21, 2013
Nov 16th 2013 |From the print edition
Banks try to assuage the misgivings of the best and the brightest.
GOLDMAN SACHS, explains Lloyd Blankfein, its boss, is for people
"interested in serving something greater than their own personal
interest". This message is conveyed to potential hires in a short film
shown at recruiting events and posted on the "careers" page of the
bank's website. The film suggests that life at Goldman is mainly about getting
socially useful projects off the ground. Volunteering for charity features
prominently. Making money for the firm or for those who work there is scarcely
mentioned. "That's why you come and work at Goldman Sachs, because you can
make a difference in the world," the promo concludes.
Thus financial firms are selling themselves to would-be employees this
recruiting season, which is well under way at universities around the world.
The firms in question, aware that the financial crisis has taken a toll on
their reputations, are at pains to correct students' misapprehensions.
"You may read certain things in the newspapers," announces one
evangelist, "But I'm here to tell you all what it's really like to work
for us." The usual buzzwords—"passion", "solutions"
and "client-first"—pop up. All the presenters stress that their firm
is different from the "others".
No expense is spared. Your correspondent, in attendance at some events,
sipped fine wine and nibbled exquisite canapés (the salmon fillets served by
Sanford Bernstein, a research firm, stood out). Four-course dinners are not
unheard of.
Yet the events make clear that high finance is not about high living.
According to one university careers-adviser, since the financial crisis
students have become more interested in the ethics of their future employers.
Banks have cottoned on, placing much more emphasis on social responsibility in
their recruitment presentations. Prospective applicants learn that working for
a bank will help the global economic recovery and remedy social injustice.
Big financial firms are also promising to treat their recruits better.
Bank of America promised to review working practices after the death of an
intern in August. Earlier this month Goldman announced that its junior staff
will no longer work between Friday night and Sunday morning—though they should
still "check their BlackBerrys on a regular basis".
In spite of the low esteem in which the public holds the finance
industry, it seems to have no trouble attracting talented youth. Some 9% of the
class of 2013 at Yale went into finance, as did a quarter of economics students
at Oxford. Three of the ten biggest hirers of university graduates in Britain
are banks, according to the Complete University Guide, a statistics website.
Goldman has received more than 20,000 applications for its 350 entry-level
slots in Europe this year.
Whether the new hires believe the banks' spin, or sign up in spite of
it with old-fashioned self-interest in mind, is unclear. Not all are
high-minded: one guest at a recruiting event admitted attending solely for the
free booze.
From the print edition: Finance and economics
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
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