Goldman Sachs gives senior staff unlimited annual leave

Senior staff at investment bank Goldman Sachs can now take as much annual leave as they want.

In a memo seen by ITV News, the firm said a "flexible vacation" initiative began at the start of the month and aims to "support time off to rest and recharge".

The benefit only applies to the bank's partners and managing directors, however.

Junior workers are not entitled to unlimited holiday, but from January next year they will receive two extra annual leave days.

Additionally, from January all workers will be required to spend at least three weeks a year on leave.

Goldman Sachs has in the past been accused of overworking its junior staff.

In a survey carried out last year, some junior analysts reported working around 95 hours per week and said they slept an average of five hours a night.

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Granting senior staff more time off could be Goldman Sachs' attempt to retain those who might otherwise leave for the technology industry, Lauren Thomas, a data scientist from workplace reviews site Glassdoor said.

"Tech offers high salaries and strong WLB [work-life balance] hard to turn that down for finance. This has shown in the increasing number of business grads choosing tech over finance," she wrote on Twitter.

"Is this the sign of a permanent culture shift in the industry? My guess is yes - once benefits like this are given, they’re hard to take away."

Goldman Sachs' memo on the new holiday policies reads: "As a firm, we are committed to providing our people with differentiated benefits and offerings to support well-being and resilience.

"As we continue to take care of our people at every stage of their careers and focus on the experience of our partners and managing directors, we are pleased to announce enhancements and changes to our global vacation program designed to further support time off to rest and recharge."