Goldman Sachs has tried a number of tactics to convince employees to come back to the office during the coronavirus pandemic, from wining and dining senior execs at cocktail nights, to hauling out food trucks at the firm's New York City reopening last June.
In recent weeks, Goldman has turned to more stringent levers to encourage in-person attendance by electronically monitoring who's coming into the office and when, according to multiple sources contacted by Insider. Those who fail to comply with the firm's strict RTO policies risk getting a call from a manager or team leader — or being marked as out of office, insiders said.
Four current Goldman staffers told Insider that the firm is taking attendance by monitoring swipes into and out of its offices, including at its 200 West Street headquarters. A recent report from the New York Post, citing posts by Goldman employees on the workplace forum Blind, said some managers are also using spreadsheets to keep tabs on which teams are in the office the most.
"They're definitely watching the swipes," said one New York-based investment-banking analyst who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. "If you aren't in more than three to four times a week, you'll get a call from the business unit leaders reminding you of the expectation to be in the office."
A second employee, an asset-management analyst, said his unit was called into a meeting recently where staffers were told about the tracking measure — and warned that they could also be penalized for swiping in late.
"We were told that from now on, every time we scan into the office, it's going to be tracking when we are coming in," said the person, who requested not to be identified speaking about internal company discussions.
Staffers were told to swipe in between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. or risk being marked absent, the person added.
"If you're not in by that time, it doesn't count that you were scanned in for the day," the analyst explained. "It definitely is an uneasy feeling. Knowing you're being tracked kind of feels like you're going back to high school and they're taking attendance."
Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Some say it's "bullying"
Goldman's efforts to enforce its RTO policy in recent weeks appear to be working, staffers said. The New York-based IB analyst estimated that attendance at 200 West Street has risen from about 60 to 65% in the autumn months leading up to the outbreak of the Omicron variant, to "up to like 70 to 75%."
Historically, getting people back to the office has been a challenge for Goldman.
Last February, CEO David Solomon called long-term remote work "an aberration" that the firm would seek to "correct as quickly as possible." Insider reported last summer that, following the firm's June 2021 reopening, some junior bankers resisted the call to return right away.
But last month, Solomon affirmed in an interview with Fortune Magazine that he stands by the conviction that being physically together is crucial to the firm's success.
"The secret sauce to our organization is, we attract thousands of really extraordinary young people who come to Goldman Sachs to learn to work," he told Fortune. "Part of the secret sauce is that they come together and collaborate and work with people that are much more experienced than they are."
But some young talent appear to be bristling under the weight of these enforcement measures. The asset-management analyst said one of his colleagues recently quit to take a job elsewhere after receiving a series of phone calls from a manager regarding his failure to show up at work often enough.
Other Goldman staffers, writing anonymously on the Blind forum, called it "bullying" and threatened to quit.
"Apparently they are tracking everyone's attendance and managers are getting lists of people who have low attendance so they can bully them into coming in," one employee wrote on the messaging board, according to The Post.
"GS was my best option when I was searching for a job during the pandemic," wrote a separate staffer. "I begrudgingly joined. BIG MISTAKE!"
Aaron Weinman contributed to this report.
Do you work for a financial-services firm and have thoughts to share on returning to the office following the pandemic? Contact this reporter. Reed Alexander can be reached via email at ralexander@insider.com or via SMS/the encrypted app Signal at (561) 247-5758.
