(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. plans a full return to its offices in Hong Kong starting in the middle of next month as the Asian financial hub begins to ease Covid measures amid declining virus cases.
The New York-based bank on Wednesday started with a split-team arrangement and outlined a plan for a full return starting on April 19, according to a memo sent to staff that was seen by Bloomberg News. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
The lender will “welcome” all staff to return “in anticipated alignment with the government’s relaxation of social distancing measures and resumption of in-person school classes,” according to the memo. It added that if circumstances change, it will amend its approach accordingly.
Hong Kong last week moved to scrap some travel curbs and laid out a road map for easing internal pandemic restrictions, acknowledging the damage its absolutist approach to Covid-19 has had on the city’s status as a financial hub. The moves were spurred by frustration in the banking community and wider population, which has endured more than two years of strict border controls.
A fifth wave of infections is now subsiding in the city, with daily confirmed cases sliding below 10,000 a day from tens of thousands in early March.
Goldman Sachs joins other banks in a phased return, with HSBC Holdings Plc allowing 30% of Hong Kong staff to work in the office from Friday.
The Wall Street bank requested staff to self-test with an Antigen rapid test kit before coming to the office on or after March 30, and to continue to test twice weekly during in-office rotation.
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