Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon considers homework an ‘aberration’

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that working from home “was not a new normal” for the investment banking giant, calling him an “aberration”.

Speaking at Credit Suisse’s annual virtual financial services forum on Wednesday, Solomon said the coronavirus pandemic caused a “significant part” of Goldman Sachs employees to work remotely.

However, he said the company still manages to have an average of less than 10% of its people working in its offices around the world.

In New York, Solomon said Goldman had up to a quarter of its employees working at the site and managed to bring the same number back to its London offices last summer and fall, when UK public health restrictions eased briefly. .

Goldman brought half of its staff back to its offices in Asia, Solomon said, but added that that number dropped again in the fall and winter months, with a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

“I think for a company like ours, which is a culture of collaborative and innovative learning, this is not ideal for us and it is not a new normal,” said Solomon.

“It is an aberration that we will correct as soon as possible,” he added.

Solomon said he was particularly focused on ensuring that the next group of young workers to join Goldman Sachs next summer did not start working at the company remotely, as he believed they could lose “direct contact” and “direct guidance”.

He said he “strongly believed in personal connectivity” and therefore did not think that for a company like Goldman, its operating style would be very different after the pandemic.

Solomon’s comments contrast sharply with those of many big names in the technology space who made the move to remotely work a more permanent part of their operations. The most recent example is the music streaming service Spotify, which announced earlier this month that it would let employees work from anywhere after the pandemic.

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