Schroders has ditched the usual nine-to-five working arrangement, becoming the first major financial services firm in London to make remote working permanent after the Covid-19 crisis.
In an internal memo seen by The Telegraph, the British fund manager unveiled a new approach to working, under which employees will not be required to come into the office five days on a weekly basis.
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One Schroders insider was quoted as saying: “Staff have been told the firm will not go back to nine-to-five.”
Employees at the firm earlier had the remote working option but only one day per week.
With the new rule, employees have the flexibility to decide their working hours at the desk and agree on working patterns with their manager.
Earlier, the firm’s CEO Peter Harrison stated that the Covid-19 crisis has pushed flexible working forward by two decades.
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By GlobalDataHowever, the firm has no plans to shut down its Wall Place office.
After reopening its office, nearly 100 of its employees were at their desks in the first week of this month.
Schroders HR chief Emma Holden was quoted as saying: “Re-thinking the rulebook on flexibility will ultimately prove a huge shot in the arm for productivity in the long term.”
On the other hand, Barclays boss Jes Staley recently urged its UK employees working from home due to the pandemic to return to offices.
Staley said that the bank will not abandon its financial hubs.
Meanwhile, HSBC asked its employees in the UK not to return to the office until at least September 2020.
