Managers told letting most staff continue to work up to two days from home will give bank competitive advantage. The boss of Citigroup has told executives that most staff will continue to be able to work remotely two days a week, a decision that sets it apart from other Wall Street banks. Most of Citi’s employees work on a hybrid schedule, spending at least three days a week in the office and up to two days working remotely. Most of its traders and staff in bank branches have to be at their desks five days a week.
The chief executive, Jane Fraser, in March 2021, shortly after she took became the first woman to lead a big Wall Street bank, told staff the bank was adopting hybrid working as a long-term strategy. Fraser told managing directors on a recent quarterly call that the US bank would be sticking to its hybrid working policy, the Financial Times reported. This is marked contrast to other main US banks, which are calling time on the home-working era, which started during the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, JPMorgan Chase summoned staff back to the office five days a week from March.
A week ago, Barclays also hardened its stance on remote working, decreeing that all staff should work from the office at least three days a week, up from two. The Trump administration has offered redundancy packages to almost all of the roughly 3 million people who work for the US government if they leave their jobs by 6 February. Requirements for those who stay on include a full-time return to the office for most workers.
This mirrors other industries in the US. Amazon required staff to return to the office five days a week from the start of January. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Andy Jassy, its CEO, said. Citi, while maintaining a hybrid policy, has stepped up monitoring of attendance, tracking security pass swipes to ensure workers are at their desks at least three days a week. The bank has committed to office working with its £1bn revamp of its skyscraper in Canary Wharf, expected to be completed in 2026.
