The banks with the most feared drug tests

Most every big bank and large financial firm drug tests prospective employees after they accept an offer, though not all do. As such, worried applicants who may have a drug or two still running through their system often head to the Internet to find out if a trip to the lab is on the horizon. Based on Google auto-fill results, “does [X bank] drug test” is one of the most common Web searches concerning financial services companies. But which big bank elicits the most fear?

That would be Wells Fargo, at least according to risk mitigation specialist JDP, which analyzed Google search trends across all industries in a new report. The other two banks to make the list of the top 60 most searched U.S. companies include Bank of America and J.P. Morgan’s retail arm, Chase. The good news for the industry is that the three banks finished in the bottom five overall, below tech firms like Amazon, Tesla and Apple, and nowhere close to retail companies.

To make apples-to-apples comparisons, JDP took into account the number of employees at each company. The search “does Wells Fargo drug test” was submitted roughly 660 times per month based on its most recent headcount figures. That number falls to 528 for Bank of America and 221 for J.P. Morgan Chase. JDP looked at the 150 largest U.S. companies, so a firm with fewer employees like Goldman Sachs may not have been included. Morgan Stanley and Citi would have been included, however, but didn't make the top 60. 

What’s particularly interesting is that Wells Fargo is one of the few banks that doesn’t actually drug test as a condition of employment, according to a statement the bank sent to us last year as part of our reporting on legalized marijuana. We’ve been told that most other big banks do, though many smaller financial firms don’t bother. A current and former Goldman Sachs employee each told us they were tested but were given a window of time to complete it. A former hedge fund employee who worked at three different firms said he was never tested as part of the pre-employment process. An accountant and an equity researcher who worked at several smaller firms across their careers said the same.

Either way, people seem to want to know before they’re handed the cup – at least when concerning the three aforementioned firms.

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