The majority of the largest employers in the
With Covid-19 cases falling and millions of people successfully vaccinated, staff are trickling back into London’s offices, and companies are turning their attention to what the workplace will look like when government guidance around home working eases.
Read more: No full-time return to the office for over a million British workers
If countless surveys are to be believed, most employees have reported enjoying the flexibility of working from home.
Not having to commute to the office five days a week has been welcomed, and many feel their work-life balance has improved as a result of spending more time at home.
However, employees also appear largely in agreement that collaboration is more challenging remotely. ‘Zoom fatigue’ is a real phenomenon, and some staff have reported missing their colleagues and the idle chit-chat that comes with office life.
It is perhaps unsurprising then that the vast majority of the Square Mile’s biggest employers are leaning towards the hybrid model for the post-pandemic world.
Read more: The office is not dead – far from it, say City insiders
City A.M. canvassed the Square Mile’s 10 largest employers by office size to find out what a week day in the
Though the finer details are still being worked out at most of the firms – and many bosses are awaiting guidance from the government – the majority plan to continue to grant staff more flexibility over where they work.
BoE to embrace hybrid working
City A.M. understands the
Japanese holding company Nomura is also understood to be moving to a hybrid way of working, with corporate staff expected to be in the office for around 50 per cent of the time.
Read more:
Big Four firm Deloitte, like rivals PwC and
“Our hybrid working model will also see continued investment in our office space design to facilitate collaboration, connection and innovation for both our people and our clients.”
A spokesperson for the German investment bank said most staff will be offered the chance to work remotely two to three days per week, after 90 per cent of staff that responded to an internal survey said they wanted some degree of remote working following the pandemic.
Read more: Deloitte paid to draft parliamentary answers and media lines on test and trace
The 10 largest occupiers of floorspace in the
- Goldman Sachs – 826,000 square feet
UBS – 796,000 square feetBank of England – 709,000 square feet- Deloitte – 536,000 square feet
- Nomura – 500,000 square feet
CMS Cameron McKenna – 400,000 square feetJP Morgan Chase – 360,000 square feet- M&G – 332,000 square feet
Deutsche Bank – 312,000 square feetSchroders – 310,000 square feetBank of New York Mellon – 300,000 square feet
Source: TheCity of London Corporation , as atJuly 2020 .
Staff at
During its Q1 earnings announcement,
“We’ve proven our ability to maintain high-quality service for our clients, adopt and deploy new technologies quickly,” he said, speaking of pandemic-led changes at the bank.
“We’ve collaborated with one another virtually over this past year. We’re going to take the best of what we’ve learned to continue to innovate and drive enhanced value for our clients and our employees, including assessing what our workforce and workplaces will look like.”
Read more: Schroders’ assets under management edges up £9 billion in three months to new record
Asset manager
“We believe re-thinking the rulebook on flexibility will ultimately prove a huge shot in the arm for Schroders’ productivity in the long term, while also highlighting
Similarly, it will be business as usual at
A spokesperson said: “Recognising that everyone’s circumstances are different, we continue to encourage our staff and lawyers to discuss with their managers the support they need.
“We have always supported and continue to support agile and flexible working.”
Read more: Hybrid work is here to stay: we need to learn how to nurture talent virtually
City A.M. was unable to get a response from investment manager M&G, however, last summer it said it wanted to make savings by extending remote working beyond the duration of the crisis, with staff expected to come to the office no more than two or three days a week, according to the
Caution around the ‘new normal’
Not all of the Square Mile’s 10 largest offices plan to embrace flexible or hybrid working with such gusto.
For Goldman Sachs, the employer with the largest footprint in the
Goldman Sachs employees in the
In an internal memo circulated among staff, and seen by City A.M., chief executive
In what looks like a more moderate adoption of flexible working, Swiss investment bank
Speaking to Bloomberg earlier this month, chairman
Read more: Exclusive: Finance professionals want more flexible working week post-Covid
However, he said critical and high-risk roles like traders were likely to return to the office.
For
However, “some” employees will work under a hybrid model, and around 10 per cent of staff overall will work from home full time.
Read more: Mayor of
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