Goldman Sachs 'Reminding' Employees Of 5-Day In-Office Policy
The increased number of return-to-office mandates thus far hasn't spurred a noticeable rise in daily office usage, but big corporations like Goldman Sachs are now pushing for greater enforcement of their office policies.
The financial giant began requiring employees to come back in-person full time in May 2022. Now, the company is "cracking down" on those that aren't following the policy, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Though revenue-producing employees have for the most part returned full time, the publication reports that senior managers are frustrated by the reluctance of other staff, “constituting a significant chunk of its workforce,” to come back.
“Since we communicated our approach for returning to the office, we have continued to encourage employees to work in the office five days a week," Goldman Sachs Global Head of Human Capital Management Jacqueline Arthur told Bisnow in an emailed statement. "While there is flexibility when needed, we are simply reminding our employees of our existing policy which is broadly in line with other leading firms in the industry."
Six months after Goldman Sachs' mandate went into effect, only 65% of employees were back full time, Insider reported in October.
Goldman Sachs operates office buildings in 38 countries, with more than two dozen U.S. locations, according to its website. The firm is headquartered in New York, with a 2M SF footprint at 200 West St.
It is in the process of building an 815K SF office in Dallas, expected to cost $500M. Some 5,000 employees are expected to operate out of the property — one of the largest office buildings the city has added in decades — beginning in 2027.
Even as return-to-office requirements roll out across the country, data shows it has had a muted effect on in-office occupancy.
An estimated 1.7 million workers have been subject to new in-person policies since the beginning of the year, according to JLL, but Kastle Systems card tracking data shows the percentage of in-office traffic has hovered around 50% of pre-pandemic levels since the beginning of the year.
“There’s still a disconnect with the way that organizations have sentiment towards return to office and what their expectations are versus what employees are really, actually doing,” CBRE Global Head of Occupier Thought Leadership Julie Whelan told Bisnow in an interview earlier this month.
Along with that increasing number of mandates, analysts told Bisnow they expect to see a ramp-up in enforcement. A survey this month of 1,000 corporate decision-makers found that 28% say their company will threaten to fire employees who don't comply with office mandates, according to ResumeBuilder.
“I can feel that in conversations that I'm having with clients, and with our customers about how they're thinking about it, and how they're managing it," Kastle Systems CEO Haniel Lynn told Bisnow. "They're asking their managers to enforce it more."
