Struggling with the gender pay gap, Goldman Sachs releases diversity hiring plan

Goldman Sachs has revealed minority hiring targets as it prepares to level up the diversify of its workforce, according to a memo penned by top executives on Monday.

What’s happening:  Goldman’s CEO David Solomon, COO John Waldron, and CFO Stephen Scherr sent a memo out to all GS employees with diversity hiring targets this upcoming year.

In terms of its incoming analyst class, Goldman intends to hire in the Americas:

• 50 percent women
• 11 percent black professionals
• 14 percent Hispanic/Latino professionals

“These goals are anchored in the representation of qualified candidates,” the senior executives wrote in the note. “While they are aspirational, we have access to an incredible talent pool and believe they can be achieved. With focus and persistence, we plan to improve each year towards these goals.”

Looming gender pay gap bombshell?: The Gender Pay Gap reporting rules passed in 2017 in the UK require companies to publicly publish salaries of their employees by gender.

Reporting for 2018 is almost here and with this note,  it appears GS is trying to get out in front of what may be disappointing results when it comes to addressing the gender pay gap at the firm.

In terms of the gender pay gap, Goldman didn’t fare so well in 2017. That year, women were paid 55 percent less than their male peers.

This number is likely misleading, as the UK reporting looks at mean and median salaries, regardless of role. What it does reveal is that fewer women populate senior executive roles at Goldman, where larger salaries are de riguer.

“We need to improve senior representation in order to change the results of these measures, and we are confident that the steps we’ve outlined will help us, over time, increase our representation of all diverse professionals at senior levels,” the note said.