Work Shift

Wall Street Gets Tough on Return-to-Office Laggards

Bosses ‘will be more rigid’ with latest in-person push: Wylde
Many firms expect workers in office at least three days a week

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WATCH: Wall Street is starting to put more pressure on workers to come back to their desks. Bloomberg’s
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Aisha Gani reports. Source: Bloomberg
Markets
Economics
By Aisha S Gani
Industries
September 1, 2023 at 6:00 AM GMT+2
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More than three years from the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Wall Street is still working
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Opinion
on cajoling staffers back to the office.
Businessweek
Equality
Green
In recent mid-year evaluations, Citigroup Inc. managers were reminding staffers with persistent
CityLab
Crypto
absences of the firm’s expectations for in-office work. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has also
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started reiterating the message that it expects employees to be in the office five days a week.
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these updated will tighten its in-office requirements from three days a week
to four.

And employees of HSBC Holdings Plc’s UK bank have been told they should be at their desks in
an office or with clients three days a week from October, a spokesperson confirmed this week.

“Employers are going to be more rigid,” said Kathryn Wylde, chief executive officer of the
nonprofit Partnership for New York City, which has many Wall Street leaders on its executive
committee. “It’s sending the message that people are paying attention and the bosses are paying
attention and will judge your performance at least based in part on your office attendance.”
Where the financial services industry goes with remote work, so does the rest of the economy.
While top banking executives were among the first to decry persistent remote work, these days,
even technology giants that once promised long-term flexibility have become stricter with their
policies — though few have returned to full five-day office schedules.

Bank Return-to-office policy

The majority of workers have to be in three days a week. There are some roles that require
Bank of an in-office presence but have flexibility to work at home for a limited number of days per
America month. Workers in some divisions, like traders or branch staffers, are expected to be in the
office five days a week, though even those employees are offered limited flexibility.

Across the corporate and investment bank, all employees are expected to be in the office
at least three days a week. Investment bankers and traders are largely expected to be in
Barclays
the office four days a week, though certain employees in the markets division must be in
the office five days a week.
 More than 130,000 staffers spread across 22 countries in Europe can do their jobs from
BNP
home for up to half the week. US employees have the same hybrid model as those in
Paribas
Europe.

The majority of workers have to be in three days a week. Workers in some divisions, like
Citigroup
traders or branch staffers, are expected to be in the office five days a week.

Deutsche Most back-office employees can work remotely two or three days a week. Staffers in the
Bank front office, like traders or branch workers, are required to spend more time in the office.

Goldman Encourages employees to be in the office five days a week and recently started reiterating
Sachs that message.

There’s no global requirement for staffers to be in the office a set number of days. Instead,
HSBC
executives have crafted individual policies for each team based on business needs.

The majority of workers have to be in three days a week, though all managing directors are
JPMorgan now required to be in the office every weekday. Workers in some divisions, like traders or
branch staffers, are expected to be in the office five days a week.

CEO James Gorman has said he wants to see employees in the office at least three or
Morgan
four days a week. In wealth management, brokers are limited to 90 days of remote work a
Stanley
year unless they have an alternate work location agreement.

Staffers in corporate functions are expected to be in the office between 40% and 50% of
Nomura the time. The majority of workers in client-facing roles are in the office full-time, though
even staffers in those jobs are offered limited flexibility.

Globally around two-thirds of employees have roles that allow them to work from home at
least part of the time. Workers in some divisions, like traders or branch staffers, are
UBS
expected to be in the office five days a week. Some employees in the US are able to work
remotely full-time.

“I completely understand why someone doesn’t want to commute an hour and a half every day,
totally got it,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told The Economist in
an interview published in July. “Doesn’t mean they have to have a job here either.”
The Financial District neighborhood of New York Source: Bloomberg

Still, even financial firms’ efforts to bring workers back have come in fits and starts and, at
times, have been undone by resurgences in new coronavirus variants. In fact, the first push to
invite more bankers back to their desks started after the US Labor Day holiday in 2020, while
the pandemic still raged.

These days, less than half of all office workers are back at their desks, according to Kastle
Systems, which measures badge swipes at office buildings around the country. In New York,
where 1 in 11 jobs have ties to the financial securities industry, that figure slipped to 43% in
August, the data show.

Bankers Want More Flexible Work Arrangements

A quarter of financial-services employees would prefer to work in the office one to two days a
week
 Current Ideal

17.0
Flexible
35.0

26.0
1-2 days in office per week
25.0

34.0
3-4 days in office per week
18.0

18.0
Fully in office
13.0

5.0
Fully remote
8.0

Source: Deloitte
Bank bosses looking to crack down on those flouting in-office policies are navigating a delicate
balance. Among financial services workers who still work remotely at least part-time, two thirds
said they would quit if they were required to return to the office five days a week, according to a
Deloitte survey published in August.

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“Employers are pushing more aggressively for a return to the office,” said Neda Shemluck, a
managing director at Deloitte who also serves as the diversity, equity and inclusion leader for
the firm’s US financial services practice. “There is this urgency now for employers to have
policies in place to mandate people back into the office. And, the reality is, that’s going to come
with very significant consequences in terms of retention.”
— With assistance by Dara Doyle