Goldman Sachs lifts all COVID protocols, orders staff to return to office full-time

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs will lift any COVID protocols that have kept some employees away as it encourages all employees to return to the office five days a week after Labor Day, The Post has learned.

In a memo sent Tuesday and obtained by The Post, Goldman Sachs told employees it will no longer require vaccines, COVID testing or masks — a signal that it will not accept apologies for employees who claim COVID as a reason to work from home. .

“There is significantly less risk of serious illness,” the memo said. “In line with [the CDC’s] updated protocols, if you did not come to the office, please check with your manager to ensure you understand and meet your division’s current expectations.

The official memo comes just days before the bank expects all employees to return to its offices five days a week, sources add.

“This is another way Goldman Sachs says, ‘School is in session and we want you in person’ after Labor Day,” Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo told The Post. “Goldman is the ultimate customer-centric company and it’s hard to face customers remotely.”

Goldman is one of the first major companies to send a company-wide email essentially stating that the risk of contracting COVID should not be used as an excuse to work from home.

“We continue to make steady progress by bringing our people together in the office, which is at the heart of Goldman Sachs’ apprenticeship culture and customer-centric business,” a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman told The Post on Tuesday.

The memo states that Goldman will roll back its massive testing program and plans to stop offering company-wide test kits by the end of the year. The bank will reimburse the insurance-covered COVID tests and continue contact tracing and inform employees who have been in contact with an infected person. But in accordance with CDC guidelines, that person does not need to be quarantined.

Employees at the company’s New York City headquarters at 200 West Street must still abide by the city’s mandate, which requires employees to be either vaccinated or have a health or religious clearance to enter a building. to go.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon wants his company to be the leader when it comes to returning to the office full-time, a person close to the bank told The Post.

“They’ve brought people back to the office and are miles ahead of their peers,” the source said, referring to Goldman’s uptown competitors, including Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, who have allowed hybrid schemes.

This isn’t the first time Solomon has made headlines for emphasizing the importance of working from the office. Last year, at Credit Suisse’s annual virtual financial services forum, Solomon said working from home was “an aberration that we’re going to correct as soon as possible” and “not a new norm” for the company’s employees wearing white shoes.

Last summer, the bank demanded that employees return full-time, although the Omicron variant that spread like wildfire last winter counteracted those efforts.

But after more than two years, the bank no longer accepts apologies.

“People are out for most of the week, but after Labor Day there will be a push for people to be working full-time – back to business as usual,” the source said.

“It’s a game of chicken. Many junior bankers will continue to work from home and office on their own schedules and see what the repercussions are,” a Goldman insider added. “Solomon’s memo was a little vague and may have kicked the eye on the road.”