BNY Mellon increases weekly office attendance to four days
Seven Major Wall Street Banks Increase Office Presence Post-Pandemic
Seven major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Citigroup, BNY Mellon, TD Bank, and Bank of Montreal (BMO), have announced plans to increase office attendance for employees since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest Wall Street bank to join the trend is BNY Mellon, which will require employees to work in the office four days a week starting from September 2, 2023. BNY Mellon's managers have been working in the office four days a week since January.
JPMorgan Chase, led by CEO Jamie Dimon, who has been a notable proponent of in-office work, has mandated full-time office attendance starting March 2025. Dimon has previously stated that "there's nothing like face-to-face" work. Goldman Sachs, too, has moved to full-time office mandates, calling remote work a temporary aberration to be corrected as quickly as possible.
Citigroup requires hybrid work with at least three days in the office for many employees, with some previously remote staff asked to return full-time. HSBC mandates senior staff to be back at least four days weekly.
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and BNY Mellon previously required employees to be in the office five days a week. BNY Mellon's memo to employees states that being in the office together helps collaborate and move work forward more efficiently.
In contrast, Standard Chartered has resisted strict mandates, favouring flexibility and reporting strong financial performance under this model.
Most CEOs expect a full return to in-office work by 2027, according to KPMG. However, policies vary by bank and region, and some banks still maintain flexible or hybrid approaches.
BNY Mellon will continue offering employees two weeks of "work from anywhere" per year and will allow remote work for one day a week. The bank believes in-person work is more effective for responding to dynamic, fast-paced financial markets and better serving clients. BNY Mellon's policy allows occasional remote work, but the bank has seen "positive momentum" from most managers being in the office four days a week.
This trend reflects a broad shift back toward office presence particularly at large financial institutions in New York and Toronto, driven by leadership views on productivity, culture, innovation, and client service. However, the exact number of employees for each bank and the start date for the four-day-a-week office requirement vary by institution.
Last year, Citi, U.S. Bank, Truist, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays increased the number of days employees needed to be in the office. The New York-based bank has previously required employees to spend three days a week in the office since the first half of 2023.
These changes mark a significant departure from the remote work arrangements that became widespread during the pandemic. The banks' decisions to increase office attendance highlight the importance they place on in-person collaboration and client service.
- BNY Mellon, with its employees required to work in the office four days a week starting from September 2, 2023, is making strategic moves in business and finance, a shift that emphasizes the role of in-person collaboration for efficient work.
- Goldman Sachs, following the lead of JPMorgan Chase, has moved to full-time office mandates in their business operations, highlighting the importance these finance giants place on personal interaction for client service and innovation.
