Goldman Sachs Group delayed its return to office for staff in the U.S. by another two weeks as it looks to wait out the COVID-19 surge nationwide.
Goldman’s employees were told they could delay returning until Feb. 1, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank’s management, aggressive champions of having its offices filled, had to check their desire after backtracking last month amid a deluge of omicron cases sweeping across New York and beyond.
Anyone entering the bank’s offices must get a booster by Feb. 1 if they’re eligible for the injections by that date, Goldman had previously told its workforce.
A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Blackstone is requiring U.S. staff to get COVID-19 booster shots to work in the office, joining even more Wall Street firms stepping up pressure on their workforces in recent days to get jabs and take more tests.
The world’s largest alternative asset manager told employees they must get boosters “as soon as practically possible,” a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Office workers will need to be tested on-site three times a week, she said.
Citigroup is threatening unvaccinated employees with termination this month. And Bank of America is donating $100 to local food banks and hunger-relief organizations for each U.S. employee that registers their COVID-19 booster.
This week, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned vaccine holdouts in New York that they won’t be able to work in the office — and that “we’re not going to pay you not to work in the office.”
Last year, Blackstone asked U.S. professionals to return to its offices full time by early June. But when COVID cases skyrocketed across the country later in the year, the firm let staffers work from home through Jan. 18 of this year. The company recently pushed back the return to Jan. 28, the spokeswoman said.