NEW YORK–The nation’s biggest banks continue to wrestle with bringing workers back into their Manhattan offices. The effort comes as many workers, including high-ranking executives, have said they prefer their new work-from-home arrangements.
“Wall Street is in revolt. Across the financial industry, at firms big and small, workers are slow-walking their return to the office. Bankers for whom working from home was once unfathomable now can’t imagine going back to the office full-time,” the Wall Street Journal said in its analysis. “Parents remain worried about transmitting the coronavirus to their children. Suburban dwellers are chafing at the thought of resuming long commutes. And many younger employees prefer to work remotely.”
The Journal, which conducted its interviews prior to an announcement by outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio that the city would require all on-site workers to be vaccinated, noted the reluctance to return to office cubicles is hardly unique to the financial industry.
“All across America, companies are wrestling with their employees’ demands for flexibility as the pandemic reshapes the future of work. But on Wall Street — known for its hard-charging culture that values face time and long hours, and where toughness is celebrated — it is remarkable,” the report added.
One Reason for Pushback
One reason for the pushback, according to the Journal, is that Wall Street banks have posted record profits during the pandemic with workers stating the numbers are evidence they do not need to work out of the office in the ways they used to.
According to the Journal, the financial industry employs 332,100 people in New York City. In October, only 27% of those people came in daily, according to data from a survey conducted by the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group.
Office attendance at financial-services firms is projected to climb to 47% by the end of January as companies lean more heavily on staff, according to the group, the Journal said, noting that still remains a long way off from the 80% that was typical before the pandemic, accounting for employees who were traveling, on vacation or sick.
‘More Difficulty’
“The bigger institutions are having more difficulty getting people back,” Kathryn S. Wylde, chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, told the Journal. “From the employer perspective, the longer this goes on, the more difficult it is to get people back, the greater their frustration.”
The Journal noted that some large banks ordered their employees to begin returning to the office over the summer, with senior execs saying for months that their clients should be catered to in person, that banking is an apprenticeship business where juniors learn the ropes by observing their seniors, and that teamwork benefits all.
For example, James Gorman, the chief executive of Morgan Stanley, said “If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office.”
The bank called employees in the New York metropolitan area back after Labor Day, and now about 65% of employees based in Morgan Stanley’s Times Square headquarters are now coming in at least Gorman has since said the bank will allow greater flexibility for workers.
‘Coaxing & Coddling’
JPMorgan said most of its employees have returned to the office in recent months, with many of them on hybrid schedules.
In the meantime, the Journal noted many of the banks have resorted to “coaxing and coddling,” including offering free meals and snacks occasionally, as well as complimentary Uber and Lyft rides and relaxed dress codes.