Bank orders staff back to office... for 3 days a week

THE boss of banking giant Citi said yesterday that his 9,000 UK staff will return to the office when restrictions are lifted because ‘we are best when we are together’.

James Bardrick, the country officer for the UK, said he expected staff to come in for at least three days each week.

He was one of a series of bosses of well-known firms who said their staff will be expected to return to the office after the pandemic but that a mixture of home and office working was here to stay.

Most firms and workers expect to move to flexible working after the pandemic, but economists have warned that little research has been done into the far-reaching consequences this will have on jobs, businesses and high streets.

Thousands of small city- centre businesses such as restaurants and dry cleaners, which rely on office workers for trade, fear they will be killed off if widespread home working continues after the pandemic.

Pressure from business leaders has already forced the Government to row back on plans to change the law to make working from home the default option for staff.

Companies have demanded the Government get rid of the workfrom-home guidance if restrictions are lifted on July 19. Citi Bank, which employs 6,000 in London and 3,000 in Belfast, has put forward a blueprint that will make staff come into the office for at least three days a week.

Mr Bardrick said: ‘We strongly believe our business works best when we are together. We will use greater flexibility. But really to do your job well and develop as an employee, and to get the best out of yourself and the team, we need to be together in the office.’

Pano Christou, chief executive of cafe chain Pret a Manger, said its office staff will have to come in at least two days a week. ‘One of my biggest concerns with my own team is about how they are struggling to switch off between working from home and living at home,’ he told the Times CEO Summit.

The boss of Channel 4, Alex Mahon, said that three days per week provided a ‘good balance’, while Philip Jansen, chief executive of BT, said there is no use in ‘commuting to sit in front of a screen all day’, but that offices were vital for fostering collaboration and teamwork.

Several other large banks are expected to bring staff back once the government guidance changes. Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon has described remote working as an ‘aberration’.

‘It works best when we are together’