Goldman Sachs Tells US Staff To Work From Home Until 18 Jan

USA – Multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs has reversed course on its return-to-office stance due to a spike in Omicron cases, reported Bloomberg on Sunday morning (2 January, SGT).

Despite being one of Wall Street’s fiercest advocates of letting employees return to the workplace, the company has instructed its staff here to work from home (WFH) if they can until 18 January 2022, as COVID-19 cases surge across the country particularly those infected with the more contagious Omicron variant.

“As we continue to monitor the trajectory of this spike, we now encourage those who can work effectively from home to do so,” stated Goldman Sachs in a memo for its staff that was distributed on Sunday.

As recently as in the past week, the investment bank was accelerating its return-to-office plan by making vaccination booster shots mandatory for its workers. Anyone going into its office buildings are required to get a booster by 1 February, if they are qualified for the jab during that period, it announced on 27 December 2021.

Notably, the New York metro has been severely impacted by the surge in COVID-19 infections during the holidays, creating fears that the situation could be exacerbated as workers return to their offices and kids return to schools. This has compelled some financial firms to amend their workplace strategies in recent weeks, with several of them relaxing mandates to commute to the workplace.

Specifically, JPMorgan is allowing its staff to WFH during the first weeks of January 2022. However, its employees are expected to resume their in-office schedules by next month.

Likewise, Citigroup instructed its employees to work from home in the first few weeks of the new year if they can. Bank of America is also urging staff to WFH this week, while Jefferies Financial Group asked workers last month to telecommute and get a booster shot by the end of January 2022.