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HSBC is considering a global delegation to force employees back to the office for at least three days as banks seek to coordinate their policy patchwork across their vast operations.
According to those involved in the deliberation, CEO Georges Elhedery has discussed the group’s entire return to office policy with bank corporate executives, according to people involved in the deliberation, with some managers expressing complaints that many employees are still working from home.
The discussion was ongoing and no decision had been made, said someone familiar with the discussion. HSBC declined to comment.
HSBC, which hired 211,000 full-time equivalent staff late last year, is an outlier among large global banks, most of which have already introduced more stringent hybrid work requirements to bring employees back to the office.
At HSBC, the policy regarding the frequency of employees expected to be in the office has so far been determined by senior management for each of the various business lines. HSBC UK has already told employees that they have a risk of spending at least 60% of their time in the office or client or reducing bonuses.
If adopted, the new rules introduced a minimum office attendance requirement of three days a week earlier this year, alongside other UK lenders such as Barclays.
But they require that all staff go to the office five days a week, rather than just before the stiffer line approach adopted at Wall Street Banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
Other companies across the financial sector are also curbing policies from working from home. In department stores in the UK, John Lewis asked some of his commercial teams, ranging from designers and buyers, to work three days a week at an office, store, or brands and suppliers to improve collaboration. This change does not apply to parent companies that own the Waitrose supermarket chain and have a flexible working policy in place.
At HSBC, senior bank executives are eager to return to pre-pandemic work lives and bring employees back to their offices, but the orders contribute to the lack of desks encountered by thousands.
Hybrid Working was initially considered positive by former HSBC CEO Noel Quinn. Noel Quinn said that reducing the real estate footprint would reduce global headquarters costs by 40%.
The bank announced that it would leave its headquarters in Canary’s Whar Wave in 2023 and move to about half the building of the space near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
According to those involved in the plan, HSBC originally planned to move all employees to the new headquarters in 2027. It also housed a private bank of HSBC and planned to reduce one of its most expensive leases, the Mayfair office, by abandoning several floors.
But the HSBC has tried to find desks for thousands of employees, so it may end up maintaining those offices, the person said. The banks are also in the process of further job cuts, which will help reduce the number of desks needed, they added.
HSBC is also considering renting office space at Canary Wharf at 40 Bank Street. This is an option that raised an internal eyebrow after the announcement that the bank was leaving the area.
“I cut my umbilical cord and you want to go,” said the senior executive.
Additional Reports by Laura Onita of London
