UK’S COVID HANGOVER
Bank of England staff in uproar as Governor says: You can work from home all week
THE Governor of the Bank of England has put himself at odds with Chancellor Rishi Sunak by ditching a requirement for his staff to work in the office for at least one day a week.
Despite calls by Mr Sunak for people to return to traditional working patterns, Governor Andrew Bailey has told workers they will not be compelled to abandon their working from home habits.
The move has angered many City workers – including some frustrated staff at the Bank of England – who argue that they are losing dealmaking and networking opportunities, with younger workers missing out on mentoring by their more experienced colleagues.
Mr Bailey, who took up his post last year, had originally said that staff at the Bank would be expected to adopt a ‘hybrid’ working model, coming into its
‘Threadneedle Street has thrown in the towel ’
Threadneedle Street offices one day a week and participating in meetings remotely from home the rest of the time.
But last week his workers were told that attendance even just one day a week would not be enforced.
The move comes despite Mr Sunak championing a desire for people to return to the office, praising ‘the spontaneity, the team-building, the culture that you create in a firm or an organisation from people actually spending physical time together’.
Even the Bank of England itself has warned about the long-term effects of home working.
Last year, Mr Bailey told MPs at the height of the pandemic that he was worried about the impact on the economy and the Bank’s then-chief economist Andy Haldane said he feared that it could dampen creativity and productivity.
One City worker said: ‘While the big banks are trying to entice their staff back to the office, Threadneedle Street, which should be setting an example, seems to have thrown in the towel. Its all very well for established staff in their 40s and 50s with homes in the country, but unfair on younger workers trying to build a career.
‘If you don’t force people to come in, most people won’t bother’.
In an attempt to persuade staff to return, businesses are offering bonuses, yoga classes, free meals and even ‘return to work’ celebrations. It was reported yesterday that the accountancy firm PWC is offering cash bonuses for its entire 22,000-strong staff, with the
suggestion they should spend it on ‘new office clothes’ or ‘a bike for commuting’.
Firms including Slaughter and May and Goldman Sachs are offering free meals, while Boston Consulting Group is offering a talk by international rugby referee Nigel Owens for its office-based staff.
Mr Sunak has been dismayed by the slow pace of the return to normal patterns in business and across the civil service; a number of Government departments, including his own Treasury, have posted job adverts which suggest that home working could become permanent.
The Chancellor warned that offices which shut down risked losing good staff who will ‘vote with their feet’ and leave.
Earlier this year the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, called remote working an ‘aberration’ that needed to be corrected ‘as soon as possible’.
The Bank of England has built a network of 250 ‘digital ninjas’ – staff who help colleagues to use new technologies to work from home.
A Bank spokesman declined to comment last night.