WALL STREET SEES A PATH TO RETURNING TO THE OFFICE
New York City is reopening, vaccinations are accelerating and spring brings with it an air of optimism. For Wall Street’s banks, that means a return to offices may finally be in sight.
At JPMorgan Chase, hundreds of interns are set to work in the lender’s New York and London offices in the coming months. Citigroup is providing workers with rapid COVID tests as it sketches out its plans to safely return people to its buildings. Goldman Sachs has said it hopes to have more employees back by summer.
One year after Wall Street sent employees home in droves to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the prospects of a broad return are starting to get clearer — and not a moment too soon for some companies in the industry. From Zoom fatigue to the exhaustion of jobs colliding with home life, many bankers say the strains of long-term remote work are growing for bosses and underlings alike.
There are exceptions, and signs of growing flexibility as companies consider hybrid models. But as other industries look at dramatically reshaping work in a post-COVID world, the stance of New York’s financial giants is clear: Employees should be at offices. It’s just a matter of how quickly — and safely — their leaders can get them there.
“It is very much our goal to be back in the office together,” Evercore Co-Chief Executive Officer Ralph Schlosstein said in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday. “We’re encouraging everybody to get vaccinated as soon as they’re permitted to do so.”
Workers are increasingly eager to get out of the house and back on the road to see colleagues and clients, said Brian Chin, who leads Credit Suisse Group’s trading and investment-banking arm.
“There’s only so many Zoom calls you can do,” said
Chin, who has said he hopes to get employees back in the office soon. “I do worry about our people.”
Banks remain wary of setting firm dates of when they’ll reopen offices, and the process could stretch for many months. Still, the prospect of companies having to welcome a second class of virtual interns and analysts brings added urgency. Newcomers often used to learn by pulling up a chair behind a senior trader or tagging along during client meetings. That’s a model that’s harder to replicate in
the world of video conferencing.
“It’s important to be together for collaboration and communication,” said John Buchanan, chief operating officer and head of strategy for Mizuho Americas. “And one of the big things is training our younger folks. This is an apprenticeship business. People learn from their mentors.”
In some ways, banks might not have a choice but to bring back some workers. Historically, traders and certain support staff were required to be in the office so that companies could more easily monitor their activity for regulatory compliance.
As the pandemic swelled in the U.S. last year, Wall Street received special dispensation from regulators, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to allow its traders to work from home. Now, the agency is weighing whether it will allow remote work on a permanent basis.
Elsewhere, Ford told employees Wednesday they can continue to work from home, allowing more than 30,000 to use the office only when they need to, even after the pandemic is over.
Some financial firms have already said they plan for more flexibility.
Apollo Global Management will test giving employees the option of working remotely two days a week for the rest of the year. The brokerage BTIG has said that it expects that as many as half of employees will choose to incorporate remote work into their regular schedules even after its offices reopen.
“I think that most people will try hybrid schedules, especially initially, to see if that approach to work is more rewarding,” said BTIG Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Mermel.“For us, the biggest change in thinking throughout the pandemic is the idea that everybody doesn’t have to report to the office in order to be connected,” she said.