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By Lawrence White
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - The coronavirus pandemic could
permanently change how many bankers make the daily trudge into
tightly packed city centre offices, Barclays CEO Jes
Staley said on Wednesday.
The bank, which like companies worldwide has seen the
majority of its staff work from home or backup sites, will not
revert fully to its pre-January working habits, Staley said.
"There will be a long-term adjustment in how we think about
our location strategy...the notion of putting 7,000 people in a
building may be a thing of the past," he told reporters after
the bank reported a fall in first-quarter profits.
Staff including investment bankers could work instead from
branches as well as other locations, he said.
Barclays plans to reopen its Hong Kong office first before
other Asian hubs such as Singapore and Tokyo, and then Europe,
Staley said.
Social distancing rules will limit how many workers can
return and impose restrictions, such as limiting elevators to
two people at a time, he said.
The comments by the head of one of Britain's biggest banks
show how business leaders are contemplating making possibly
permanent alterations to work methods.
Banks worldwide have in recent years increasingly shifted
many staff away from expensive skyscrapers in financial hubs,
but Barclays and its rivals still pack thousands of workers each
into single offices in London's Canary Wharf financial district.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Jason Neely)
