AnnaMaria Andriotis
Appearances
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
What was interesting in all of this reporting was hearing the different type of tensions among white executives, white employees, as well as black employees and executives. We're talking about settlements. We're talking about lawsuits being filed.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
The efforts were initially received in a very positive way, in particular by Black and other minority employees at Morgan Stanley. That initial optimism started to change as time went on. So, for example, I There was one initiative that the company publicized that was focused initially on Black recruits, the first group being hired in 2021.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
And by early 2022, when bonuses were being distributed, Black employees in this program realized that their bonuses were substantially lower than the bonuses of other associates in similar or identical positions to them who were not in the program.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
That played out the following year in early 2023, at which point the Black recruits from this program really started to voice their concerns even more than they already had been. That resulted in an internal review, and the end outcome of that in the spring of 2023 was that their salaries were increased.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
Now, as all of this is playing out, there's a lot of tension bubbling up from white employees who who are viewing the increased diversity efforts that were rolled out by the bank as what they've described and has been described in one lawsuit filed by a former white executive as reverse discrimination.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
The bank disputes that its policies have created divisiveness or tensions. It's pointed to company-wide surveys in which most employees gave the bank high scores on its commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. The firm has some 80,000 employees around the world, and Morgan Stanley said that there will always be outliers.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
But the vast majority of its employees of all backgrounds agree that Morgan Stanley is a great place to work.
WSJ What’s News
Why No One Is Happy About Morgan Stanley’s DEI Efforts
The bank has been making a number of changes to its diversity initiatives. Also notable this year, Morgan Stanley's annual report says that its talent development is based on meritocracy. This was new language that previously had said a lot about diversity efforts. The addition of talent development being based on, quote, meritocracy was a new one this time around.