Goldman Sachs

Very knowledgeable, professional, and respectful employees and management, in a very positive environment.

Ability to work from home when necessary and workplace flexibility – a must if you have a family.

Good pay, in line with the market rate for similar roles. However, the media reports about several hundred thousand of compensation per employee are bloated. The numbers are severely skewed by taking into account a few higher-paying executives.

Technologies used are more up-to-date than in other large financial firms/investment banks (but I'm speaking about my department only).

Ability to propose/share your own ideas (to a certain extent, since I was a consultant).

The company does care about its reputation.

I did not have any full-time perks as I was a consultant, and still, I was very, very happy with the job.

In general, it was a very, very positive experience, and I'd love to go back there either as a consultant or full-time if the company starts hiring back.

One word: layoffs.

There is good communication between management and employees about the possibility of upcoming layoffs, but this is still stressful for everyone, both employees and management.

I guess it is stressful for the company itself since they need to show the investors that they are cutting costs and cannot keep the good employees they would have otherwise tried to keep.

Let consultants use the gym (since you have to pay for it anyway!). When you sit at work all day long and commute while sitting, it's not a luxury to exercise; it's a must.

There are no public gyms in the vicinity of the office. I developed back pain at some point because I was sitting at work all day long.

Also, the inability to use the gym made me feel like a second-class employee (I was a consultant, but my duties were not really different from anyone else on the team).