Citi bucks back-to-office development and embraces hybrid working | USAEMALL.com

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Citigroup chief executive Jane Fraser has told top executives that the bank will continue to allow most employees to work remotely two days a week, in a move that puts it out of step with some rivals and the Trump administration.

Fraser pledged to maintain the hybrid work schedule on the executive’s quarterly call with the US bank’s managing directors in mid-January, according to people familiar with the matter.

Citi is sticking with flexible work even as other bankers are upping their in-office mandates. Barclays on Wednesday demanded staff work from the office at least three days a week, up from two.

Last month, JPMorgan Chase told staffers the bank would begin requiring its workers to be in-person five days a week starting in March.

The Trump administration is also requiring US federal employees to be back at their desks five days a week, offering redundancy packages to workers who do not want to comply.

Citi’s decision to stick with hybrid work schedules follows earlier pledges by Fraser, who in general has been more lenient when it comes to remote work than rival top executives.

In March 2021, shortly after she became chief executive, Fraser told staffers that the bank planned to embrace hybrid working as a long-term strategy, and not just as a response to the pandemic. Since then, Citi has required most of its staffers to be in the office three days a week. Most traders and bank branch employees are required to be in the office five days a week.

On the recent management call, Fraser called Citi’s more flexible in-office work requirements a competitive advantage. It can be a recruitment tool for Citi to attract employees who dislike the more rigid approach at some rivals. However, competitors have argued that bringing staff back to the office full time is vital to foster better collaboration and mentorship for younger bankers.

Even so, while it has maintained a hybrid policy, Citi has tightened its workplace policies and stepped up enforcement of attendance minimums. In August 2023, Citi began tracking security pass swipes in order to ensure that workers were in-person at least three days a week.

Citi is also on track to spend more than $1bn renovating a 42-storey Canary Wharf office tower, which is set to open in 2026.

And while Citi remains officially three days a week, some investment bankers say they feel pressured to be in the office more often. One associate in Citi’s investment bank said his division had been “soft four days a week in the office for quite a while”.