DWS Group, the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, is reportedly set to cut office space in Frankfurt as its employees continue to work from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg, the asset manager will give up offices it currently has in the ‘Die Welle’ building by the end of the month.

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A person familiar with the matter revealed that the change will affect around 200 workspaces.

The pandemic is ‘forcing us to rethink some of our plans and decisions’ on our office locations, DWS COO Mark Cullen has been quoted as saying in the memo.

DWS CEO Asoka Woehrmann and Deutsche CEO Christian Sewing have said that they are planning to use a higher share of remote working in the future in a bid to cut real-estate costs.

In September last year, reports suggested that Deutsche was looking to make its Covid-19-induced flexible working arrangement permanent as reducing office space emerged as a feasible way of cutting costs.

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There were also reports about the German bank looking to move half of its 4,600 Manhattan employees to smaller hubs across the US.

Previously, in interview given to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank UK CEO Tiina Lee said that requiring staff to return to the office for five days a week ‘feels to me a little bit like a wasted opportunity’.

Lee, at that time, also said that the staff feedback shows they want to work from home at least one to three days a week and the bank looking to explore that idea.

DWS in its annual report published earlier this month said: “We continue to review our real estate portfolio in all locations to ensure we are optimising our office footprint.

“In 2021, we aim to continue to review our footprint in other countries, including our headquarters in Germany.”

Earlier, Swiss multinational investment bank UBS Group said that nearly one-third of its employees may work from home permanently in a post Covid-19 environment.