Battling a strong hybrid work trend, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has repeatedly pushed for employees to return to the office full-time, leaving no doubt that he views remote work as a temporary aberration.
But the day the investment banking giant reopened its U.S. offices in February, after closing during the Omicron wave, only 50%, or about 5,000 of the building’s 10,000 employees, returned to its New York headquarters despite that received more than two weeks. notification.
In early March, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has made it his mission to bring office workers back to the city, held a meeting at City Hall for bank employees. While the internal meeting was closed to the press, Adams later told the media that Goldman only had “a couple of thousand employees” working in person, far from a full return to the office.
Such a dizzying drop in attendance would mean serious problems for Solomon’s campaign, but a Goldman spokesman provided Fortune with different numbers. Recent attendance at the bank’s headquarters averaged between 60% and 70% during the week, close to its fullness last fall before Omicron closed, a spokesman said. At that time, about 8,000 workers visited the office at least one day a week. The firm did not provide comparable data prior to the pandemic, when the numbers were certainly higher.
A growing proportion of employees will likely return to Goldman’s offices as the pandemic subsides. Solomon believes face-to-face communication is essential to the culture of learning at the bank. The company’s operating model, which Solomon calls an “ecosystem firm,” involves hiring about 3,000 new college graduates each year who learn from experienced bankers and build face-to-face connections. This experience also encourages teamwork, which is central to the corporate culture. None of this will happen, Solomon believes, if remote work becomes the new normal.
The story goes on
The impact of remote and hybrid work on career growth and company performance remains to be seen. Some of Goldman’s Wall Street competitors, notably JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, are also taking a hard line on getting employees back into the office. Others, including Citigroup and UBS, believe the pandemic has changed the world of work forever, and they see hybrid work as a powerful attraction for top talent.
The verdict of Solomon’s initiative will not be clear for months or perhaps even years. As the war of strategies in the workplace plays out, office occupancy rates are no longer numbers to look at. As always, market share, growth, and earnings will determine winners and losers.
Read completely: Goldman Sachs orders employees to return to the office 5 days (or more) per week
This story was originally published on Fortune.com.