Chief executive sends \u2018very strong\u2019 message to US staff where many workers are vaccinated against Covid<\/p>\n
Last modified on Tue 15 Jun 2021 12.35 EDT<\/p>\n
The chief executive of Morgan Stanley has become the latest US banking boss to call for an end to remote working, telling his New York staff that anyone who feels safe going out to a restaurant should return to the office.<\/p>\n
James Gorman admitted that the bank would take a different approach in countries such as India or the UK \u2013 where fewer than 25% of its 5,000 London staff have been going to work in person \u2013 due to stricter Covid restrictions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
However, in the US, where nearly 90% of staff in its New York headquarters had been vaccinated, the chief executive said he was issuing a \u201cvery strong\u201d message to staff to get back to their desks by Labor Day on 6 September.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office. And we want you in the office,\u201d Gorman said during a financial services conference organised by the bank on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake no mistake about it: we do our work inside Morgan Stanley offices. And that\u2019s where we teach, that\u2019s where our interns learn, that\u2019s how we develop people,\u201d the chief executive added. \u201cThat\u2019s where you build all the soft cues that go with having a successful career that aren\u2019t just about Zoom presentations.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said bankers could not expect large paycheques if they worked away from Wall Street. \u201cIf you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. None of this: \u2018I\u2019m in Colorado \u2026 and getting paid like I\u2019m sitting in New York City.\u2019 Sorry, that doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The executive claimed he was not \u201cdictating\u201d a return to office, in contrast to Goldman Sachs, which required US staff to return to their desks on Monday. \u201cBut [on] Labor Day, I\u2019ll be very disappointed if people haven\u2019t found their way into the office,\u201d Gorman said. \u201cThen we\u2019ll have a different kind of conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgan Stanley\u2019s chief executive is the latest US banking boss to hit out at remote working, which has left white collar workers running some of the world\u2019s largest businesses from their kitchen tables.<\/p>\n
The Goldman Sachs chief executive, David Solomon, made waves after he called remote working an \u201caberration\u201d, while JP Morgan\u2019s boss, Jamie Dimon, said it was poor practice for new and younger staff, as well as employees who wanted \u201cto hustle\u201d \u2013 suggesting promotions might be harder to clinch for staff who worked from home.<\/p>\n
A number of European banks, including UK lenders that are more focused on high-street banking, have offered more flexible arrangements for staff. NatWest Group has said it expects just 13% of its 64,000 employees to work from the office full-time. Meanwhile, HSBC is planning for thousands of its staff to work remotely long-term and expects to cut its global office footprint by 40% as a result.<\/p>\n