“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.
The finance industry’s determination to bring workers back is a contrast with Silicon Valley’s large employers, many of whom now plan to keep more of their workers at home on a permanent basis, said Rob Dicks, Accenture Plc’s talent and organization lead for capital markets.
Facebook Inc., for instance, has said that as many as 50% of its employees may eventually be remote, while Twitter Inc. staff can work from home forever if they’d like. Salesforce.com Inc., San Francisco’s largest private employer, is adopting widespread flexible work after the pandemic ends.
“Here’s where you see the split between the banks saying, ‘Yes, but we want to see you here,’ and the tech firms saying, ‘Hey, you’re probably right, you have proven, across teams and across individuals, you have the ability to work from home,’” Dicks said, adding that finance companies may have to adapt to recruit in-demand engineers and other technology workers.
Elsewhere, Ford Motor Co. 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 will test giving employees the option of working remotely two days a week for the rest of the year. The brokerage BTIG LLC 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.”
Even some of the staunchest supporters of office life have seemed to soften their stance. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said this month that some of his employees might split their time between remote work and coming into the office.
“There will be a large portion who permanently work in the office—think of our branches, cash management, probably most of the trading floor,” he said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Mizuho’s Buchanan said there’s only one thing he knows for sure.
“I’m 100% confident that we will not be 100% work from home nor will we be 100% in the office,” he said. “That’s a wide range.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.