David Solomon's long-delayed initiative to move senior executives at the firm s headquarters closer to the rank-and-file has finally come to fruition and it s ranking of higher ups and underlings alike, sources told The Post.
Top brass, including Solomon, descend to the 33nd floor of their plush offices to a grid of cubicles on the 11th floor. It s part of a plan that was first announced in December 2019, though the pandemic lockdown meant the move didn't actually happen until this summer.
In an internal memo announcing the move, Solomon said he wanted executives to be nearer to The Sky Lobby, which is on the 11th floor of Goldman s 44 - story glass tower. The lobby is full of couches and coffee for that all important buzzword of business: collaboration. Indeed, the bank posted a picture on social media in June that showed employees and interns hanging around in the space, which also has a cafeteria and gym.
The Sky Lobby was specifically designed to be the hub of this office, Solomon built for the space at 200 West St. in downtown Manhattan. There's a natural buzz there, and I want our leadership team to be part of it. With just one floor away — accessed by everyday staircase — the idea was they would be accessible more to spiral engineers, a person near the bank told The Post.
You didn t find a lot of enthusiastic support for the idea, the person said.
And Solomon isn't exactly milling around, chatting with the hoi polloi. David is travelling all the time and everyone else is stuck on 12, the person said about the new floor of the execs. Ninety percent of the time, he is away from his desk, another person added.
The Bigwigs of 12 have partitions to separate their spaces and they each have a conference room for meetings.
Goldman's Andrea Williams spokeswoman said: "The new space on 12 is open and inviting, joining us with other innovative companies in designing a flexible floor plan that invites and engages. Some may disagree about the color of the comfy green chairs but our employees and executives overwhelmingly agree it s a great space to meet, catch up and grab coffee with colleagues, she said.
The space cost approximately 10 million to build out, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
While one source applauded the move as a good initiative to be closer to people, the reality is executives are just as distant as they were before. The 12th floor is a spiral staircase, and you have to go upstairs to see anyone because no one is just going to wander by, a source told The Post.
And some executives are mourning their Hudson River views and cushy offices. Many people have essentially ended up working from the conference rooms, another person said.