Yahoo Finance Live anchors Seana Smith and Dave Briggs look at Citi’s remote work policy for employees in the final weeks of 2022.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: All right, well, we are just about a couple of weeks from the end of the year when many workers are looking to spend less time in the office, more time with family and friends. One company is making that happen. Citigroup telling employees that they can work from anywhere for the last two weeks of the year. This is according to Bloomberg. The only caveat, though, you must stay in your country of employment. So no jet setting to Paris if you’re a US-based worker. Now the decision applies to employees in hybrid roles and those who already work remotely.
Dave, this is interesting, though, because this is happening within the banking sector. And we know a number of the CEOs, outside of Jane Fraser, from the CEO of Citi, they have been very clear. They want their employees in their office, and they want their employees in an office on a very consistent basis. She, from the get-go, has been much more flexible in terms of work from home, the hybrid situation. So this two weeks at the end of the year is pretty similar to what they did in the summer, when they let workers work from anywhere for the last two weeks of August.
DAVE BRIGGS: You know I applaud Jane Fraser for this move. I mean, look, it’s a tight labor market. If you start to see some bank layoffs, I’m guessing a lot are going to flood Citi’s way. This is the new reality. The numbers show only 6%– this is according to Gallup– 6% want full-time in office work. No one wants to go back to the office five days a week. 34% want fully remote jobs. 60% want hybrid. This is a real separator.
And in times where you have to make tough decisions, you’re going to stick with someone like Jane Fraser. You’re going to stick with someone like Citi. You’re going to work harder for them. And she has said all along the traders, for the most part, do want to be in the office five days a week. So she’s probably not referring to the vast majority of her traders, who need to be in the office.
SEANA SMITH: Yeah, yeah, exactly, but it is important to point out that the rhetoric coming from Jane Fraser– and this has been consistent over the last couple of years– is very different than what we’ve heard from, say, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who, time and time again, saying that he wants workers back into the office. He went as far as saying that people working from home, quote, “doesn’t work for people who want to hustle.” So that type of environment culture there, very different, perhaps, from what’s playing out at Citi. But I think it’s a welcome news there for the people who are able to work from home for the next two weeks.
DAVE BRIGGS: Well, funny, we haven’t talked a lot about remote work in the recent six weeks, eight weeks, maybe even couple of months. But the numbers are really petering out. They’re really leveling out, according to Kastle Systems, who tracks the swipes. We have really found a stopping point, around 50% of return to office in New York City. So it appears to be one of those things where we have just stopped the return. I live in an entirely commuter town. And I’ve seen those numbers consistently tick up, people returning to work, but clearly is not the case.
SEANA SMITH: Yeah, I was gonna say, it seems like more and more people are on the buses in the morning, more and more people are on the subways in the morning. But I think the question and the big story to watch in 2023, if, in fact, we are seeing a leveling out now, clearly, a lot of companies have way too much office space. They have way too much real estate. So what exactly happens to that end of the real estate market is going to be interesting for the next couple of years.
DAVE BRIGGS: Conversion, we hope conversion. This real estate guy wants to see office space converted into residential–
SEANA SMITH: We’ll see.
DAVE BRIGGS: –but that is a heavy lift.
