Has a global investment bank banned the long weekend?

investmentnews.com:

Deutsche Bank’s decision to ban staff from working at home Friday and the following Monday — a common practice at firms that come to the office three days a week — has drawn a new line in the sand in the ongoing tussle between bosses and workers.

The German banking giant said the move was designed to “spread our presence more evenly across the week,” Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing and chief operating officer Rebecca Short said in a memo. The company will also require its managing directors to come in at least four days a week as of June, while all other staff need to be in three days. The mandate “will ensure consistency across the bank,” a spokesman for the bank said. 

But the Friday-to-Monday ban is very rare, and illustrates the growing frustration of companies that pay millions for office real estate that often empties out at the bookends of each working week. Many companies with hybrid-work plans allow workers or teams to choose which days they come in, and among those that require attendance on certain weekdays, it’s typically Tuesday through Thursday. Just 6% of US firms that call workers in on specific days choose Friday as one of those days, according to an index of the workplace arrangements of more than 5,800 firms administered by Scoop Technologies Inc. 

“I’ve actually never heard of a company putting that specific rule in place,” said Scoop co-founder and Chief Executive Rob Sadow on Deutsche Bank’s new practice. “Executives want to balance the flexibility employees want, getting people together in person, and generating real estate savings given reduced office use.” 

Deutsche Bank’s desire to find that balance comes amid an ongoing shakeout in the $20 trillion US commercial real estate