Financial services firms are in a constant battle to attract and retain female talent, particularly in client facing positions and there’s one firm that stands out as the most attractive to women in finance – J.P. Morgan.
J.P. Morgan is the company that women in finance would most like to work for, according to the 2016 eFinancialCareers Ideal Employer rankings. We surveyed 6,500 people and female respondents voted the U.S. bank top.
Goldman Sachs won the overall rankings, with J.P. Morgan coming in second. However, among female respondents, those positions were reversed. Google and Morgan Stanley were third and fourth respectively – the same as their overall global rank. Citi, which ranked seventh overall, was the fifth most popular firm among women.
| Rank | Company | |
|---|---|---|
| (*) Global Rank View the complete 2016 Ideal Employer Rankings |
||
| 1 (2) |
| J.P.Morgan |
| 2 (1) |
| Goldman Sachs |
| 3 (3) |
| |
| 4 (4) |
| Morgan Stanley |
| 5 (7) |
| Citi |
| 6 (9) |
| Credit Suisse |
| 7 (8) |
| HSBC |
| 8 (6) |
| UBS |
| 9 (12) |
| Barclays |
| 10 (11) |
| Deutsche Bank |
J.P. Morgan is viewed as offering competitive pay by the women who responded to our survey, but not significantly more than its peers. Where it does outrank Goldman Sachs, however, is on a positive culture within the organisation. 48% of female respondents said that they believe that J.P. Morgan has a positive culture. 39% said the same about Goldman Sachs.
How to attract women to finance jobs
What do women want? It’s a question that’s plagued most financial services organisations which struggle to retain female employees and promote enough into senior front office jobs.
Just like men in finance, women value competitive pay – but slightly more so. 82% of female respondents said they expected a competitive salary, compared to 80% of men.
This is likely to be less about greed and more a push for equality. Women are not only fewer in number in senior front office roles, they’re also paid less. Analysis by Bloomberg of MBAs going into Wall Street jobs suggested women earned an average of $21k less than men. In the UK, women earn 50% less than men in the financial sector, according to a 2015 report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Heidy Rehman, a former Citi director of research who left to start her own fashion label Rose & Willard, said her decision to leave was “borne out of frustration”.
“I was a top-ranked analyst and there were men at the same level earning more than me. And while a promotion seemed likely, it wasn’t immediately forthcoming,” she says.
Gender differences
While pay was important to women in finance, there were clear differences between genders on what they value in an employer. 65% of female respondents expected manageable working hours, compared to 47% of men and 50% wanted flexible working options compared to just 34% of male respondents.
Inevitably, decisions whether to have children affect the career trajectory of women in finance. Banks are offering some progressive policies on this – Goldman Sachs has an onsite crèche, J.P. Morgan encourages pregnant women to enrol in its maternity scheme in their first trimester to ensure a smooth transition, Morgan Stanley has a lactation room for new mothers.
Whether all this is reflected in the every day working environment or banks’ attitude to maternity leave is questionable. One associate-level female investment banker in London says that her managing director went on maternity leave for just two weeks. “What sort of example does this set for the rest of us?,” she says.
A company that was progressive on diversity issues was low down the list of priorities for financial services professionals in our survey, but 47% of female respondents said it was important to them compared to 29% of men.
Training and development opportunities were also more important to female finance professionals – 68% said it was important to them in a potential employer compared to 57% of male respondents.
View the complete 2016 Ideal Employer Rankings
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