In contrast to American banks, which are increasing the pressure on their employees to return to work in their offices, Swiss bank UBS is going to allow two-thirds of its employees to adopt a hybrid form of working over the long term, between face-to-face and teleworking.
Flexibility for recruitment
"We are committed to offering our employees the flexibility for a hybrid form of working (a mix of office and home working) where functions, tasks and locations allow," said Swiss bank UBS in an email to AFP.
To define the number of positions compatible with this organization, an internal analysis was carried out. In all, two-thirds of UBS's 72,000 employees worldwide would be eligible for the scheme decided by UBS CEO Ralph Hamers.
Certain positions have already been excluded from this new form of hybrid working, such as traders and agency staff, whose presence in the office is required.
Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, this new work organization is intended, thanks to its flexibility, toattract candidates who might be tempted by competing establishments, which are stricter on the subject of telecommuting.
A very different positioning from that of U.S. banks
In contrast to UBS, many of the major US banks believe that telecommuting is incompatible with performance and corporate culture, and are putting pressure on their employees to return to work exclusively face-to-face.
As a result, almost all Goldman Sachs staff will have to return to face-to-face work, and a large proportion of JP Morgan 's workforce will have no choice but to return to the office from July 6. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman will soon require his employees to be inoculated before returning to the office, with the aim of returning his teams to full-time face-to-face work by September.
British banks are following a more flexible European trend. Employees of Standard Chartered and HSBC will be able to work from home or in facilities close to home, for greater flexibility, but also to reduce their environmental footprint.
In France, since June 1, the 40,000 employees of the Société Générale group have been able to telework 2 or 3 days a week, thanks to an agreement approved by the unions after several months of negotiations. Telecommuting is defined as a "regular and collective working method".