HSBC has told employees in the UK that most staff will not return to offices before September 2020 at the earliest.
In a memo to staff this morning, seen by the Evening Standard, and sent by the bank’s UK chief operating officer Emma Bunnell, HSBC said: “We have a small number of key worker colleagues working in our offices and branches. Based on current conditions, we will not return any additional colleagues to our offices before September 2020 at the earliest.”
The bank, whose global HQ is in Canary Wharf, joins a throng of companies in London not planning on a big return to offices this summer.
People across various industries have been working from home since the Covid-19 lockdown started in March.
The HSBC memo also said: “When the time comes to return colleagues to our offices, we will do so on a phased basis, bringing back first those colleagues in roles carrying the greatest risk working from home, and who are able to return, and only after giving them guidance on how to operate in the new work environment.”
When a decision is made to return colleagues, it will be limited in the first instance to people in ‘phase one’ roles that have already been designated by businesses and functions.
The memo said: "It will be to a limited number of buildings and will see less than 20 per cent of colleagues return to any single office. In some buildings, maintaining two-metre social distancing means it will be far less than 20 per cent."
Earlier this month the Evening Standard contacted FTSE 100 firms to find out how many UK-based office workers they have, how many are still working from home or are back in the office, and what plans there are for having most people back.
Respondents from the banking sector included RBS. Some 49,000 RBS staff in the UK will continue to work from home into 2021, under plans the lender has.
