Goldman Sachs is insisting its staff take more vacation 🌴

The Wall Street culture is known for its punishing work hours. Goldman has said that it will give its staff more leave, and that it will insist that they take enough leave to return to work.

In April, Goldman instated its holiday policies, according to an internal memo. All partners and managing directors were required to take unlimited vacation this month. All staff, including senior executives, will have to take at least 15 days of holiday annually, including at least one week of consecutive days off.

Problems with the way US firms have handled vacation time in the past have been pointed out by the changes. Employees were not allowed to take too much paid time off. Many workers took fewer vacation days than they did when time off was capped. The US has less paid time off than most rich countries, according to a World Economic Forum analysis.

Why mandate a full week off?

Longer holidays are less common than single days taken here and there throughout the year in a culture that frowns upon fully detaching from work. Goldman requires its employees to take a week off to take care of themselves and the company. A bank that has been accused of requiring bankers to work 100 hours a week did not comment on the reasons behind its policy change.

If the bank really wants its staff to rest, it might need to look at a bigger cultural change according to London-based career coach and founder of My So-Called Career, Penelope Jones. She said that the quality of time off was more important than the duration.

A mandated week off sandwiched between extended periods of 80-100 hour weeks may have questionable value if you can't fully connect while you are away.

Jones said that a full week off of consecutive, uninterrupted days could give more time to shift gears than shorter blocks of time.

It's not unusual to get sick on the first couple of days of your holiday as the stress hormones that have been keeping you going no longer flood your system, which can affect things like sleep, Jones said.

Will Goldman's vacation policies help retain employees? Sarah Todd believes that even a week is not enough to make your day-to-day more sustainable with regular self-care.

Addressing working hours, workplace culture, unrealistic expectations around connection and productivity and flexible/remote working would do more for staff well-being, and possibly retention, than mandating holiday.