Read the full memo Goldman Sachs top brass just sent detailing the firm's coronavirus contingency plans, including separating employees into Blue and White teams to alternate working from the office and home

• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his two lieutenants told staff today that the company was engaging its business continuity plan "out of an abundance of caution and until further notice," according to an internal memo.
• Part of the plan involves splitting employees into two teams, a Blue team and a White team, which will alternate between working out of the office for a week and working from home for a week. The Blue team will be in the office the week of March 16, when all of the plans take effect.
• Read below for the full text of the memo, obtained by Business Insider and confirmed by a spokesperson.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Goldman Sachs has engaged its business continuity plan, sending a long memo to employees instructing them on when they should work from home or remote office locations.

The plans include separating some staff into a Blue team and a White team, which will then alternate spending a week in the office and a week working from home. The Blue team will work in the office the week of March 16, when all of the plans go into effect, according to the memo.

Other employees will work from an office location that won't change, such as a main building like 200 West Street in Manhattan, or a secondary site used for contingency planning.

The instructions also directed employees to stay out of the office if they feel even remotely sick, and insisting that employees wash their hands frequently and limit their gatherings with colleagues to less than 20 people.

"We are activating these measures out of an abundance of caution and until further notice," the memo states.

The memo was signed by CEO David Solomon, President John Waldron an CFO Stephen Scherr.

Read the full memo below:

Activating Business Continuity Planning Strategies Globally

As we learn new information about COVID-19, we are focused first and foremost on offering our Goldman Sachs community the full extent of the firm's support. This sustained period of change and uncertainty is weighing on everyone, and we want to assure you that we will continue to take all the necessary steps to support you and your families.

Next week, we will fully activate our business continuity planning (BCP) strategies related to the virus on a global, cross-divisional basis. As a firm, we have been preparing for this eventuality for some time, and we believe it is the right moment for us to take this decisive step to protect our people.

In practice, this means that, effective Monday, March 16, the firm will operate across separate teams and locations, with the goal of reducing the density of people in our offices at any one time. This plan will go into effect without exception across divisions in the Americas and EMEA, and will be in addition to the plans already in place across Asia Pacific, including India. We are activating these measures out of an abundance of caution and until further notice.

Depending on the nature of your role and your division, you will either:

• Work from an assigned fixed location, which means you will work from one of our main buildings or a BCP site without rotation and until further notice; or
• Work as an assigned member of a Blue or White team that will alternate weekly between working from one of our main offices and from home. Blue teams will be in the office the week of March 16, with White teams working from home, and vice versa the week of March 23 - alternating thereafter.

Specific instructions will be communicated by business and location. It is of the utmost importance that all of our people strictly adhere to their team's BCP approach to maintain social distancing in order to protect all of us.

The course of the virus remains uncertain, and circumstances will continue to change. Against this evolving backdrop, we continue to work closely with business leaders across divisions, regions and offices to ensure we are taking a flexible and responsive approach to meet the needs of our teams and our clients. We also ask that you maintain open lines of communication with your manager, so as to ensure you understand your responsibilities under your team's BCP strategy and escalate any concerns.

We are doing all we can to support your health and wellness, and similarly we ask that you also take several measures to protect each other and our families:

• If you don't feel well, even if you have mild symptoms, you must stay home and seek medical attention as appropriate
• You must wash your hands frequently
• Avoid physical contact, including handshakes, with colleagues, clients and more generally
• Limit the size of gatherings with your colleagues to no more than 20 people

As we move forward, we are very conscious that adapting our routines on a global scale represents a significant change for all of us in how we work, interact with each other and serve our clients. We are confident that we will navigate through this period together.

As always, we appreciate your focus, drive and tenacity during this period of heightened uncertainty - your commitment to our culture of client service, teamwork and excellence continues to differentiate our firm.