When will Wall Street bosses order workers back to the office?
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New York — Up and down the new virtual Wall Street, the question has started to creep in: when will the bosses order us back to our real offices?
Almost six months after the coronavirus pandemic emptied towers and trading floors in New York and beyond, JPMorgan Chase executives have discussed compelling people to come back into the city and other places where Covid-19 has subsided, according to people familiar with the matter.
The bank has already asked some new analysts to report into offices in New York and London to get up to speed in person after online training. Goldman Sachs advised recruits to station themselves near its offices should they be called in. And Blackstone has encouraged investment professionals to return. Now that the US Labour Day holiday has come and gone, many who were given the option of working from home are itching to learn what comes next. Memos are being parsed for clues to bosses’ preferences. Are references to safety measures at the office or to the fatigue of working from home (WFH) meant as reassurances or as a nudge to repopulate Midtown towers?
Take, for example, a recent missive from top executives at Jefferies Financial Group: “We probably all feel that too much WFH is simply too much, as we all miss each other, and at the end of the day, we all know we are more effective in person than on Zoom,” CEO Richard Handler and president Brian Friedman wrote.
They later caveated that “no person at Jefferies should feel an ounce of pressure to return to our offices”.
No pressure
In fact, almost every bank says employees are under no pressure to come back. Yet this is Wall Street, where competitive juices flow and paranoia looms large over catching deals, scoring bonuses and winning promotions. Quiet conversations about what is next are ubiquitous, though few people are willing to talk openly about the subject for fear of sounding too reluctant or, worse, ready to volunteer.
Some privately say they are still worried about leaving their homes and that as long as the decision is up to them, they will wait until there is a vaccine before coming back. Many lack options for child care or are reluctant to brave buses, subways and trains, concerned that venturing out could expose them or vulnerable loved ones to a virus that has killed more than 189,000 ...
Almost six months after the coronavirus pandemic emptied towers and trading floors in New York and beyond, JPMorgan Chase executives have discussed compelling people to come back into the city and other places where Covid-19 has subsided, according to people familiar with the matter.
The bank has already asked some new analysts to report into offices in New York and London to get up to speed in person after online training. Goldman Sachs advised recruits to station themselves near its offices should they be called in. And Blackstone has encouraged investment professionals to return. Now that the US Labour Day holiday has come and gone, many who were given the option of working from home are itching to learn what comes next. Memos are being parsed for clues to bosses’ preferences. Are references to safety measures at the office or to the fatigue of working from home (WFH) meant as reassurances or as a nudge to repopulate Midtown towers?
Take, for example, a recent missive from top executives at Jefferies Financial Group: “We probably all feel that too much WFH is simply too much, as we all miss each other, and at the end of the day, we all know we are more effective in person than on Zoom,” CEO Richard Handler and president Brian Friedman wrote.
They later caveated that “no person at Jefferies should feel an ounce of pressure to return to our offices”.
No pressure
In fact, almost every bank says employees are under no pressure to come back. Yet this is Wall Street, where competitive juices flow and paranoia looms large over catching deals, scoring bonuses and winning promotions. Quiet conversations about what is next are ubiquitous, though few people are willing to talk openly about the subject for fear of sounding too reluctant or, worse, ready to volunteer.
Some privately say they are still worried about leaving their homes and that as long as the decision is up to them, they will wait until there is a vaccine before coming back. Many lack options for child care or are reluctant to brave buses, subways and trains, concerned that venturing out could expose them or vulnerable loved ones to a virus that has killed more than 189,000 ...