Goldman Sachs recently announced plans to offer senior bankers unlimited time off, seemingly marking a step toward a softer side of Wall Street. But there’s policy, and then there’s practice.
Companies are experimenting with all sorts of employee-friendly policies — the four-day workweek, no-meeting Wednesdays, more casual dress codes — but unless they’re embraced by the firm’s leadership, they won’t make much of a difference. In a banking world where long vacations are generally frowned upon, providing partners and managing directors all the time off they want doesn’t matter if they simply don’t take it.
