Home / The Market / Financial News: ‘I think it sent the right message’ — Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon spent every day in the office at height of pandemic

Financial News: ‘I think it sent the right message’ — Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon spent every day in the office at height of pandemic

David Solomon (Getty Images)

Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon said he spent every day in the office at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It wasn’t a decision, like I woke up one day and said, ‘I’m going to be in the office every day during the pandemic,’” Solomon told The Boardroom: Out of Office podcast.

“We were in the office and … even though we were sending people home — I just felt more comfortable — and I also think it sent the right message that the captain was kind of hands on the wheel of the ship,” he said.

READ Goldman Sachs pauses widespread return to London HQ amid new virus restrictions

“I’d bundle up and I’d walk to work, walk home sometimes, really quiet, really peaceful. There were only 60 out of 10,000 people in our building,” he added. “But I think it sent the right message and for me the structure made it easier to operate in what was a challenging time.”

The bank paused its planned office return in the UK after Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked office workers to go back to working from home as the City braces for a second wave of infections. In a memo to staff, Goldman GS, +4.03% said its Plumtree Court London headquarters would “remain open” to those employees who “need to be in the office”, but it pulled back from plans that have seen nearly 2,500 UK staff return on a rotational basis.

It’s a reversal from earlier this month, when bosses told staff they would ramp up bringing employees back to the office after months of home-working.

READ Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon, aka DJ D-Sol, spins out new dance tune

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email James Booth

This article originally appeared in Financial News

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