Goldman Sachs economists may recognize that inflation is easing nationally, but you wouldn’t know it from the prices at the bank’s cafeteria.
The Wall Street giant’s rank and file grumble that, as they schlep into headquarters at 200 West St. in lower Manhattan five days a week, they’re greeted with stratospherically priced breakfast options that include a $7 cup of yogurt.
That’s up from $5 before the bank’s return-to-office mandate last year, according to one sticker-shocked banker. Breakfast sandwiches likewise have jumped to $7 versus $4.50 previously.
“Prices have changed over the years in slow increases but most dramatically in the past few months,” one insider told On The Money.
“The cafeteria has now become a running joke across the firm,” another added.
For lunch, some kvetch they’ll be forced to blow their bonuses just to cover the jacked-up prices. Poke bowls with protein have jumped to $17 from $14 previously, according to sources.
“It seems counterintuitive – wanting people in the office at their desks but then prices are so high people feel compelled to leave the office to get food,” one hungry banker groused.
“Now the incentive is to go eat somewhere else.”
Goldman’s headquarters is in Tribeca, which means there are plenty of other lunch options. But sources say the hike and the lengthy lines discourage many from venturing outside.
“I can get something comparable across the street for closer to $13 or $14,” said one source, who nevertheless adds that the foray is “time-consuming.”
Some insiders chuckled at the idea that Goldman bankers – who make well above six figures at the entry level – would be sweating the cost of a poke bowl.
One employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the cafeteria – in a nod to market-based, supply-and-demand capitalism – would provide discounts to employees who bought food before or after the bank’s peak lunchtime.
“Even the New York Post is aware of persistent inflation and workplace cafeterias are no exception,” a spokesperson said in a prickly statement. “We will continue to provide competitively priced meals relative to what our employees would pay elsewhere.”
It’s a far cry from the early days in the pandemic when the bank lured in staff with a promise of free food if they showed up to the office.
Less than a year ago, Goldman removed the last vestige of pandemic perks: the complimentary “grab and go” coffee station at the building entrance — stocked with cold brew, as well as stashes of French vanilla creamer, almond milk, soy milk and half-and-half — that appeared during the pandemic to encourage attendance.
Ultimately, the brass determined it didn’t need sweeteners to get people back to the office, sources told The Post. Instead, management believed the threat of getting fired should be more than enough incentive, the sources said.
Drip coffee is $2.99 for a “crappy cup” and special coffees made by a barista are closer to $5, the source added.
The fear of getting fired is far from an empty threat – Goldman has already had three rounds of layoffs over the last year. Earlier this week the bank cut 150 managing directors on the heels of firing around 3,200 in January in what staff had dubbed “David’s Demolition Day,” an insider said.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
