Goldman Sachs: To Compete, Bank Needs Top Tier Tech Talent

As it quickly strengthens the ranks of its engineering personnel, Goldman Sachs is competing with the largest tech firms for workers. Co-chief Information Officer George Lee said onstage during an event Wednesday (Feb. 12) that the investment firm has 10,000 developers, which comprises roughly 25 percent of its overall workforce, CNBC reported.

The workers are coming from around the globe, yet Lee says the stiffest competition is from firms in the tech realm, including Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google.

One hurdle for the firm, however, is that developers have become used to working on-the-go from their laptops and interfacing with their coworkers from Starbucks or the train. But, due to the rigid regulatory ecosystem in which Goldman works, Lee said that the company needs to balance those proclivities with “being super mindful of our obligation.”

The bank’s tech needs range from new products such as the Apple Card to its growing dependency on cloud infrastructure. Lee said the firm had to play into the trends of software with a workforce that is more distributed — and individuals working from municipalities all around the world.

In separate news, reports surfaced in November that Goldman Sachs said it doled out approximately $10 billion in credit lines in just over month for the Apple-branded credit card. Apple Card‌ customers had $736 million in loan balances after September. Still, it is not known how that figure stacks up against other credit cards, as Bloomberg said banks do not break out performance by individual cards.

The Apple Card was the investment firm’s newest inroad into the retail consumer business after establishing its online Marcus brand in 2016, which makes unsecured personal loans per news in November. The Apple Card provides users with the option to gain 3 percent cash back when paying for Apple products and services, as well as at Uber, T-Mobile, Uber Eats, Duane Reade and Walgreens.