Citi, HSBC, Barclays amp up back-to-office pressure

investmentnews.com:

Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Plc are ordering more staffers to report to company offices five days a week as regulatory changes make it trickier for Wall Street to allow working from home.

Citigroup is requiring about 600 US employees previously eligible to work remotely to commute to company offices full-time, the New York-based firm said in a statement Thursday. Even then, the majority of staff can continue their hybrid schedules, working up to two days a week outside the office, it said.

At HSBC, shifting regulations affect about 530 staff in New York — roughly half of its workforce in the city — and the bank is speaking to them about their options, Mabel Rius, head of human resources for the US and Americas, said in an interview. The firm is trying to let as many people as possible retain the option of logging in from home if they would like to, Rius said. HSBC’s regional chief has said it can avoid a blanket five-day mandate for all staff.

Barclays will require thousands of investment banking staff globally to spend five days a week in the office or traveling to see clients, beginning from June 1, it said late Thursday in a memo. The decision — after Bloomberg reported the bank was weighing a five-day office mandate for more US staff — coincides with the “new regulatory policies,” it said.

“Being together in the office drives innovation, collaboration and a stronger culture,” wrote Cathal Deasy and Taylor Wright, the firm’s global co-heads of investment banking. “We remain committed to flexible working and we recognize that there will be times when you will need to work from home,” they said, adding that group heads have discretion to allow occasional flexible working where needed.

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