All Goldman employees will have to take three weeks off every year from 2023.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will allow senior employees to take an unlimited number of vacation days, the latest move by a Wall Street bank to retain talent in a hot job market.
According to a company memo seen by Bloomberg, partners and managing directors at a New York investment bank can take time off when needed “without a fixed vacation day entitlement.” Junior employees still have a limit on leave, but under the new policy introduced at the beginning of the month, at least two additional days of leave will be granted each year.
The memo states that all Goldman employees will be required to take three weeks off every year from 2023. This includes at least one continuous week off.
The new holiday policy comes more than a year after junior analysts at the bank complained of deteriorating physical and mental health under a 100-hour work week and “inhuman” conditions. This echoed in Wall Street, and firms pledged to do more to improve the work-life balance of their employees.
An unlimited leave policy may have limited effect in practice. A 2017 study by HR platform Nelly found that employees at firms with open-ended holiday allowances typically take fewer days a year than those in traditional systems. And that only applies to the most senior ranks of a Wall Street firm, a workaholic cohort, who are hardly likely to make much profit.
Still, it’s an eye-catching move from a bank whose hard-charging culture has become a part of Wall Street lore. It shows how competitive the jobs market has become, as companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley are calling for a rollback of workplace policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlimited vacation allowance is a common practice among tech companies, including Netflix Inc. Finance firms – steeped in longstanding culture – have been slow to adapt, although UK broker FinCap Group plc said last year it was changing its holiday policy. Offer employees unlimited paid breaks from 2022. The move was designed to help reduce stress on employees during an unprecedentedly busy time for capital markets.
Goldman’s removal of various pandemic-era benefits by boosting its vacation eligibility could help lessen the blow. Goldman last month ended free breakfast and lunch at the office — a benefit for getting employees back to work. The bank has been one of the most aggressive of financial firms to return to office.