The new Mayor of New Your City, Eric Adams, encourages Wall Street investment banks to mandate that their employees return to work to the office. However, although they support onsite work, many firms are avoiding such measurements due to the high increase of Covid-19 cases because of Omicron.
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America are some of the banks against remote work for the long term. For most of them, remote work worked under these circumstances, but it’s not the most effective strategy in the long run. However, with the recent cases of Covid-19, the banks are allowing their employees to work from home, at least during the first weeks of 2022.
Mayor Encourages for Firms to Mandate a Return to the Office
During his first week on the job (January 1, 2022), Adams makes the rounds on local news programs encouraging large employers, most investment banks to mandate a return to the office.
He mentioned in Bloomberg TV this week:
We must get open. Let me tell you why. That accountant from a bank that sits in an office, it’s not only him. It feeds our financial ecosystem. He goes to the cleaners to get his suits cleaned. He goes to the restaurant. He brings in a business traveler, 70% of our hotel occupancy. He buys a hot dog on our streets… he participates in the economy. You can’t run New York City from home. We must have everyone participating in our financial system to allow the low-skilled and unskilled and… hourly employees to actually be part of our ecosystem.
However, many Wall Street firms are still cautious and will allow employees to work from home temporarily. JPMorgan, for instance, with over 250,000 total employees citywide, will enable remote work during the first two weeks of January. They’ve been clear about their position regarding returning to the office.
Citigroup, Amex, Jefferies group, are taking a similar approach allowing remote work during the first weeks of January.
