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A new divide is emerging in finance as bankers around the world return to their desks after months of stalemate during the pandemic.
In a corner, companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are clearly expressing their determination to have staff back in the office. Other banks, including Nomura Holdings Inc., Citigroup Inc. and various European lenders have outlined more flexible policies. This graph shows how companies divide.
Trace their return
Many European banks favor remote working options for staff
Source: Bloomberg analysis of business announcements as of July 5, 2021
This snapshot of what some banks have communicated so far is expected to evolve with the pandemic. Group-level announcements can also mask different approaches in local offices, as well as the variety of teams in each company who can realistically shift to remote work on a permanent basis.
But a gap is becoming clearer. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon reiterated his desire for busy offices at a recent conference, saying remote working doesn’t work “for those who want to push themselves”. The bank followed up on its comments with plans for the entire U.S. workforce return to the offices, in turn, from this month.
Read more: Face It, Bankers Return to the Office: Marcus Ashworth
But a bank aberration is another chance to upset long-standing practices – and perhaps give it a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining the best employees.
Standard Chartered Plc wastes no time deploying formal hybrid work agreements with its 85,000 employees worldwide, while 80% of employees now have flexible contracts that combine office work and work from home, according to a spokesperson. It also reduces about a third of its office space.
Others are less demanding about where and when staff return. Citigroup has defined a philosophy of flexible working, claiming it will promote inclusion and retention – yet CEO Jane Fraser said at an online event last week that almost everyone will need to maintain some sort of presence. At work.
The timing of these moves is also dividing businesses. In the United States, Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley canceled the summer for major changes, saying instead the offices should be occupied by September. They capitalize on the value of office culture for staff, especially young employees looking to build their networks and skills.
Continental Drift
Banks have long struggled with imposing a corporate culture across time zones, which is now complicated by the gaps between Covid-19 workloads and restrictions around the world. London-based staff at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are not yet following all of their American colleagues into offices, after the UK’s “freedom day” against restrictions was postponed until at least July 19.
“Each region experiences things differently and at different rates,” said Allison English, deputy managing director of the Leesman workplace research firm.
Companies headquartered in Europe tend to be further apart than their American rivals in favor of flexible policies. UBS Group SA, UniCredit SA and Deutsche Bank AG has previously unveiled hybrid work models, although the latter lets each team define their balance between time at home and in the office.
Shanghai Scenes
Asia, too, offers a variety of models.
In Shanghai, the world’s first major financial center to fight and tame the virus, nearly all of the 360,000 finance professionals have been working for more than a year, even though they continue to face temperature scans. and looking for contacts. Similar scenes are unfolding all over China and there are no flexible work plans at national banks, insurers and brokerage houses.
In Japan, Nomura CEO Kentaro Okuda unveiled plans for employees to work a at least 40% of office hours each month, with departments having discretion within this limit.
– With help from Russell Ward, Jun Luo, Chanyaporn Chanjaroen, Jeremy Diamond and Takashi Nakamichi
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