(Bloomberg) — Citigroup joined banking rivals including UBS Group in touting its flexible work policies, saying that partial work-from-home will create a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining top staff.
The lender’s employees will have the option of working from home at least part time, investment banking co-head Manolo Falco said at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday. That regime sets the bank apart from major U.S. rivals that are taking a more hard-line approach to remote work, he said, naming JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Group.
Global investment banks are splitting into two camps in their approach to flexible-work policies. While many banks in the U.S. are requiring staff to return to the office, a growing number of European lenders, including UBS and Deutsche Bank, are adopting increased flexibility on a more permanent basis, asserting that it can improve staff morale and perhaps afford a hiring advantage.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said in March, shortly after taking on the top job and declaring Fridays “Zoom-free,” that being in the office is important for competitiveness, collaboration and mentoring younger staffers. But she also said that the majority of the lender’s roles will remain hybrid, in which workers are in the office at least three days a week and working from home for as many as two.
The bank’s plan is to open Citigroup’s offices in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood to as much as 30% of its broader staff next month. The company also shifted gears in recent weeks regarding its summer-intern program, saying it will allow some interns to visit the New York headquarters in July. That’s a reversal from March, when it said that the 10-week summer program would be entirely virtual.
Goldman Sachs’s policy is more rigid. It’s requiring almost all U.S. employees to report to their desks. Similarly, JPMorgan is asking most of its U.S. workers to start regular office schedules come July 6. And Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman recently fired off a warning shot to employees hoping to continue working from home: “If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office, and we want you in the office.”
At Bank of America, the expectation is that all vaccinated employees will return to the office after the U.S. Labor Day holiday in early September, CEO Brian Moynihan said earlier this month. The U.S. bank will then focus on developing plans for returning unvaccinated workers to its sites.
Citigroup’s position is more aligned with that of many of its counterparts in Europe, where banks have been offering more flexibility once pandemic restrictions are lifted. Last month, French bank Societe Generale signed an agreement with its domestic union representatives allowing staff to work at home up to three days a week. Deutsche Bank has unveiled a hybrid model letting employees divide their work hours between the office and home.
