The bank’s experience overseas has left it wary of rushing. The firm serves clients in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Its leaders watched companies in parts of Asia bring back employees too quickly, only to see deadly outbreaks erupt anew. Citigroup’s president, Jane Fraser, has said the bank won’t necessarily reopen offices just because local authorities issue an all-clear.

“We will continue to prioritize the safety of our employees, customers and communities,” she wrote in a post on LinkedIn early this month. “That may mean being more cautious than the guidance of a city, state or country.”

In a presentation to Citigroup’s board last week, executives outlined a strategy called “Data Not Dates.” It calls for minimizing on-site staffing until the bank’s own analysis of local transmission and infection rates shows it’s safe to reopen.

Cafeteria Options
For now, the vast majority of Wall Street employees are doing their jobs at home, often at makeshift arrays of monitors with their families in the background. While each firm will open up at its own pace, they are generally discussing similar strategies, recalling the most essential workers before bringing back others incrementally.

One scenario under discussion at Goldman Sachs would start with 20% of employees in the office, and then ramp up to 30%, 40% and 50%. For now, that’s as far as the planning has gone.

JPMorgan’s discussions of the elevator issue show how granular the planning can get: The bank will likely limit how many people can ride at once. In cafeterias, it may shut down buffet-style options in favor of packaged items for pickup.

The bank declined to comment on specific changes under review. “We will be implementing additional safety measures when employees return to the office,” spokesman Brian Marchiony said.

Fretting Return
Across the industry, employee sentiment about working from home has shifted dramatically. Many traders initially dreaded losing access to their offices with faster, hardwired broadband connections only to worry about returning once New York City’s infections and death toll soared.

“I don’t think people are necessarily going be comfortable coming back to work right away,” said State Street Corp. CEO Ron O’Hanley. “They’re going to want to know that they’re going to be safe.”

Yet surprisingly, Citigroup’s offices in Hong Kong had to limit the number of people it let in when authorities began easing restrictions enacted in January, according to the senior executive. The bank assigned many to rotating groups that alternate between working at home and the office -- a strategy many firms are considering for New York.