Here's who doesn't get promoted at Goldman Sachs

So, now we know why Goldman Sachs is going all out to hire and promote women, latinos and blacks across the firm. - Last week's global sustainability report from the bank reveals that in the U.S., at least, employees in each category are under-represented. - And that their representation wanes at senior levels.

The diversity stats from Goldman are shown in the chart below. The implications are pretty stark: if you're a white or an Asian professional at Goldman, you're disproportionately more likely to become an 'official or a manager'.

But if you're black, hispanic/latino or female, you're disproportionately less likely to make it to the next level. 

In the case of hispanics and latinos, the drop-off is particularly acute. There's a 450 basis point difference between the percentage of hispanics and latinos who are professionals and the percentage who are officials and managers. 

The stats suggest Asian employees' luck doesn't hold all the way to the top - or at least, that it hasn't in the past. Asian employees' representation at Goldman Sachs peaks at the official/manager level, and plummets at the executive level. Meanwhile, white (male) employees' representation keeps going up.

Goldman is clearly trying to do something about its demographics, which are likely replicated at most U.S. banks. In March, CEO David Solomon announced new diversity hiring targets at the junior level of 50% women globally; 11% black and 14% Hispanic/Latino in the Americas; and 9% black employees in the U.K..

It's not just hiring but promoting and retaining minorities that appears to be the issue. The firm has also launched various programs to address this, including a 'classroom curriculum' titled 'Race & Ethnicity in the Workplace,' a sponsor program to encourage high-performing female vice presidents to assume leadership roles. and an Asian talent initiative, which it says, "resulted in noticeable increased promotion rates," for its Asian professional staff. 

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