Goldman Sachs Workers to Return to Office in June
By Nicholas Rizzi May 4, 2021 1:01 pm
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Goldman Sachs plans to ask its workers to gear up to return to the office in June, joining rival bank JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in calling staff back, according to an internal memo obtained by Commercial Observer.
Leaders at Goldman plan to send out a memo to staff on Tuesday, preparing them to return to offices in the U.S. by June 14 and in the U.K. by June 21, Bloomberg first reported.
“While each community is at a different stage of managing through the pandemic, we continue to be encouraged by the rollout of vaccines in a number of jurisdictions, as well as by the effectiveness of the health and safety protocols we have put in place across Goldman Sachs campuses to protect our people,” the memo reads. “Building on this momentum, we are focused on progressing on our journey to gradually bring our people back together again, where it is safe to do so.
“We remain committed to giving our people the flexibility they need to manage both their personal and professional lives,” the memo continues. “If you are unable to return to the office in accordance with your office’s and division’s return to office framework, please discuss with your manager (or with Wellness if you have a specific health issue). We will also continue to consider the potential for rotational schedules, where applicable, as we manage capacity in our offices and progressively return.”
The news comes a week after JPMorgan Chase told staff it will reopen its offices on May 17 and mandate workers return to them on a rotational schedule as soon as July, as the number of vaccines administered continues to increase.
A growing list of companies — including Google, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley — have started to reopen their offices after being forced to close during the pandemic. On Monday, New York City’s approximately 80,000 office workers started going back, per a mandate from Mayor Bill de Blasio, despite protests and concerns from staff about safety conditions and lack of a clear plan.
While office workers are slowly starting to trickle back into skyscrapers, many companies implemented permanent work-from-home policies and others have started to shrink their portfolio.
HSBC announced it would cut 20 percent of its office space this year. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon previously said “remote work will change how we manage our real estate,” and the bank is looking to sublet about 800,000 square feet in Manhattan.
