Moving to the Next Phase of Our Business Continuity Planning (BCP) Strategy
The following email was sent to all employees of Goldman Sachs today.
We know each of you is managing personal and professional challenges presented by the current environment, and we continue to calibrate our response to ensure everyone has the resources needed to make informed decisions. We hope you are all taking care of yourselves and your families.
Given new restrictions implemented by governments in the Americas and EMEA, we have decided to activate the next phase of our BCP plan. In those two regions, effective the morning of Wednesday, March 18 and until further notice, we encourage most of our people to work from home, while preserving the construct of our Blue and White teams. In all regions, for colleagues who need to be in the office due to the nature of their roles, we will adhere to a comprehensive set of precautionary and social distancing measures to help protect your health and wellbeing.
In practice, our BCP approach will manifest itself differently in each region, where the pandemic is at varying stages, and depending on the nature of your role. At a high level:
• Americas and EMEA: We are encouraging those who can work from home to do so until further notice.
• Asia Pacific, including Bengaluru: We will continue to follow the approach currently in place.
Specific assignments will continue to be communicated at the divisional and office levels.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: if your role is one that is assigned to work in the office or from a BCP site, and you are not comfortable doing so for personal reasons, please discuss alternative arrangements with your manager.
We know you are hearing from different people and parts of the firm -- and while it can be a challenge to keep up with all that’s being shared, we are deeply committed to supporting you in every way we can, and that means communicating with you promptly as incremental guidance and resources become available. You can always check the COVID-19 site on GSWeb for the latest information, and are welcome to submit feedback and questions at any time directly through the site or your GSWeb home page.
We’ve been speaking daily with our head of Human Capital Management, Bentley de Beyer, whose teams are working tirelessly to support our people around the world in both big and small ways. As we take this next step in our BCP approach, we would like to share some of his perspectives with you, including how he thinks about resilience in the current environment.
While our teams around the world and across divisions are managing to very different circumstances, we are committed to navigate this period together as one Goldman Sachs community. Thank you for your dedication to the firm and to each other, and for your willingness to adapt as we evolve our firm’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our experience of your commitment, flexibility and focus continues to inspire us. Above all, we want to protect our people as we continue to serve our clients when they need us most.
David M. Solomon
John E. Waldron
Stephen M. Scherr