David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, speaks at the Milken Institute global conference in Beverly Hills, April 29, 2019.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said working from home is not “normal” for the investment banking giant, calling it “an aberration.”
Speaking at Credit Suisse’s annual virtual financial services forum, Solomon said the coronavirus pandemic saw a “significant portion” of Goldman Sachs employees working remotely.
However, he said the company still managed to have on average less than 10% of its staff working in its offices around the world.
In New York, Solomon said Goldman has up to a quarter of its employees working on the ground and has managed to bring the same number back to its London offices last summer and fall, when UK public health restrictions were lifted. they relaxed for a short time.
Goldman has brought more than half of its staff back to its Asian offices, Solomon said, but added that this has dropped again in the fall and winter months, with a resurgence of coronavirus cases.
“I think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us and it is not a new normal thing,” Solomon said.
“It is an aberration that we will correct as soon as possible,” he added.
Solomon said he is particularly focused on ensuring that the next cohort of young workers who will join Goldman Sachs next summer will not start working for the remote firm because he believed he could lose “direct contact” and ” direct mentoring ”.
He said he was a “great believer in personal connectivity” and therefore did not believe for a business like Goldman that his style of operation would be very different post-pandemic.
Solomon’s comments contrast sharply with those of many big names in technology who have made the transition to remote work a more permanent part of their operations. The latest example is the music streaming service Spotify, which announced earlier this month that it will allow employees to work from anywhere after the pandemic.
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