Goldman Sachs’ holiday partying spirit was once again dimmed this year by a Grinch called the economy. Like last year, Goldman’s holiday party was cancelled, but this year, there’s a new twist. According to the Business Insider, Goldman Sachs employees are not allowed to organize private Christmas parties for the firm’s employees at their own homes, even if no firm money goes to pay for them. This Gawker story says that Goldman employees are basically not allowed to party in groups of 12 or more.
With financial firms at the root of the economic meltdown and the U.S. unemployment rate at 10.2% in October, it’s easy to see why Goldman doesn’t want to be seen as whooping it up over the holiday season. However, the stringency of these rules seems a bit excessive. One has to wonder how much recovery we will see in the economy in 2010 (many analysts expect any recovery to be tepid at best) and whether Wall Street firms will be partying next Christmas or whether economic Grinches will stay in control.
Tags: economy, Goldman Sachs
