The banking sector, which shifted to remote work early in the coronavirus pandemic, is now considering allowing employees to work from home indefinitely. Thomas Gottstein, the CEO of Credit Suisse, stated at the World Economic Forum in Davos that banks probably would not ever return to working full-time from the office. “It’s unrealistic and it is not what employees want. We are in a soft way trying to encourage people to come back, but it’s counterproductive if you push too hard,” Gottstein said.
A number of European banks have enacted flexible work policies, such as France’s BNP Paribas SA, Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, and Switzerland’s UBS. American banks, on the other hand, have generally been less willing to align with the demands of their workforce.
According to Credit Suisse’s internal policies, about 60% of its employees should be working from the office. However, only 37% are coming into work every day.