Global banks reverse back-to-office push in Hong Kong

[HONG KONG] Global banks in Hong Kong, from Goldman Sachs Group to Standard Chartered, have reversed a back-to-office push as virus cases surge in the Asian finance hub.

Goldman Sachs will go back to a full work-from-home approach in Hong Kong starting Wednesday except for staff that have to be in the office to perform their roles, according to a staff memo that was confirmed by a bank spokesperson.

Standard Chartered has applied a hard split-team arrangement for functions that require work in the office, and shortened branch hours last Friday, according to a spokesperson. "In view of Covid wave 4, we strongly encourage our staff to work from home where possible," she said.

Hong Kong introduced the city's toughest public-gathering restrictions in months on Monday and decided to send civil servants back home as the government steps up efforts to contain the latest wave of coronavirus infections. The city reported 76 new cases on Monday, most of them local transmissions.

UBS Group is back to having about 30 per cent of staff working from the office, down from about 60-70 per cent two weeks ago, according to a spokesperson. Barclays reduced office staff capacity to 50 per cent, from about 70 per cent a few weeks ago.

Citigroup resumed its 50 per cent return-to-office arrangement on Nov 23, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News. That was down from having 75 per cent on site previously, according to a spokesperson for the bank.

"We continue to watch the data closely and will make further adjustments as necessary in response," said the Citigroup spokesperson.

The rise in global cases to more than 63 million is prompting companies to scale back their office use. Workers who went to the office in 10 of the largest US business districts fell to 22.6 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels in the week ended Nov 25, according to data from Kastle Systems, down from 26.3 per cent the previous week.

BLOOMBERG