Nothing wrong with WFH, Governor? Why are you doing 12-hour days at the Bank then?
HE CAUSED uproar in the City and the Treasury by ditching a requirement for his staff to work in the office for at least one day a week.
But it seems that Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey appreciates the limitations of working from home: our pictures show that Mr Bailey – who has been accused of turning his Threadneedle Street offices into a ‘ghost town’ as a result of his edict – is out of his house in South London shortly after 6am every morning, returning from the Bank more than 12 hours later.
The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this month that Mr Bailey had put himself at odds with Chancellor Rishi Sunak by telling workers that they will not be compelled to abandon their working from home habits, despite calls by Mr Sunak for people to return to traditional working patterns.
The one-day-a-week stipulation had been due to take effect from last week, but data from the Bank’s security card system reveals that on some days as few as one in ten members of staff entered the office, and at no point did it exceed one in four.
City workers, including frustrated staff at the Bank of England, argue that the rule means that they are losing dealmaking and networking opportunities, and younger workers are missing out on mentoring by their more experienced colleagues. It comes despite Mr Bailey himself telling MPs at the height of the pandemic that he was worried about the impact on the economy of widespread working from home.
A source said: ‘The Bank should be leading the way in persuading workers to return to the office, but the Governor has turned the place into a ghost town.’