Fairness takes holiday at Sachs
Senior bankers at Goldman Sachs will now have the option to take unlimited vacation days to “rest and recharge,” but time off for junior staffers who have complained of work conditions will remain limited, according to reports.
As part of the new policy, all Goldman employees will be required to take at least three weeks’ vacation time starting next year, according to Bloomberg News.
The most senior staffers, including partners and managing directors, will be able to take time off “without a fixed vacation day entitlement.”
Goldman said it was “committed to providing our people with differentiated benefits and offerings to support well-being and resilience,” according to a memo obtained by the Financial Times.
“We continue to take care of our people at every stage of their careers . . . and changes to our global vacation program [are] designed to . . . support time off to rest and recharge,” the memo added.
Junior-level workers, however, will still be limited as to how much time off they can take, although they will be awarded two extra days off each year.
Goldman has sought to improve work-life balance among its employees after complaints from junior level staffers that they were made to work 100hour weeks.
Earlier this year, company bankers threatened to quit over management’s demands that they show up to work at the office five days a week.
When Goldman instituted a mandate for staffers to return to the office, junior bankers reportedly started interviewing for jobs elsewhere.
CEO David Solomon said earlier this month that between 50% and 60% of employees have returned to work on site full time. Goldman officials didn’t return a request for comment.