Milwaukee-based financial services company Baird issued a statement in response to a Wall Street Journal report last week that said some junior and mid-level investment banking employees at the firm were forced to work extremely long hours, including 20-hour days and 110-hour weeks, which in some cases led to serious health problems for the employees.
Here’s the statement from Baird:
“(Last) week a national media outlet published an article about our firm and our investment banking business that lifts heavily from anonymous web chat board content and includes no named sources. We take very seriously any accusations or negative comments about our culture or the experiences of working in any area of our firm. If allegations surface, we act immediately to investigate, confirm and resolve them to the best of our ability.
“We strive to be a great place to work and, in many ways, believe we are ahead of our peers in managing and developing our people. Working in investment banking can be challenging; we work hard every day to foster a great culture and provide long-term, sustainable careers for our associates. We also know we are not perfect and remain focused on improving how we manage and develop our people and our business.
“While we believe recent allegations posted online are misleading and incomplete, and unfairly characterize our business, our leaders, members of our team and our culture, this is a chance to restate our promise to all and redouble our efforts to make sure we’re creating the best workplace we possibly can.
“To all of our associates, we thank you for putting so much hard work and energy into providing great service to our clients, and as always, we welcome any comments and ideas you have to continue to make us better.”
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