Bankers hit limits on ‘work from home’

As the financial behemoths of Wall Street and the City of London reassess how they’ll operate in the post-pandemic world (assuming we get there), change is certain. Even with Covid-19 in check, staff working away from an office building will no longer be an exception. Banks will be thinking about saving on their huge urban real-estate costs, and employees about a better work-life balance.
When you look around at the relatively empty streets of New York and London’s business districts right now, you’d be forgiven for thinking this shift will be seismic. But one mustn’t underestimate the resilience of “business as usual” in boardroom thinking. Speaking to some of the world’s biggest banks, one gets the impression that the new way of working might not be so different to the old way.
The overnight shift to WFH enforced by Covid-19 has undoubtedly dispelled the myth that people work harder in an office. Critical business functions were performed pretty well from makeshift desks at kitchen tables or in spare rooms. Investment banks coped with a spring surge in securities trading without any visible problem.
That showed most jobs, even in the cutting-edge corners of finance where milliseconds count, can be done remotely if needed.
Technology, from video-conferencing apps to
superfast internet connections, held up under unprecedented demand.
Some banks were headed further in the homeworking direction anyway, before the new coronavirus struck. Back in 2014, cost reductions drove Italy’s UniCredit SpA to offer some employees the option of working from home one day a week. After technical issues and initial hesitation from staff, the shift proved popular and thousands took part.
Independent of the pandemic, the bank has started offering most staff the permanent chance to work from home two days a week.
Many office workers would like a similar option. A recent Morgan Stanley survey across different industries in Europe found 27% of employees would happily work remotely for three or four days a week.
However, the bank of the future won’t be quite so accommodating, according to a Wall Street firm I spoke to. While about 10% of staff will probably always work remotely, back-office workers for example, most banking employees — as many as 80% — will probably just get a bit more flexibility. This might involve working remotely for a day a week or up to a week a month. Banks will still favour an office set-up for many roles.

—Bloomberg