* Banks had just begun return to offices in Britain
* Government reverses 'back to workplace' stance of recent
weeks
(Adds Goldman Sachs)
By Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Up to 1,000 Barclays
staff who had returned to office-based working in recent weeks
will revert to working from home following British government
guidance on Tuesday, a spokesman for the bank told Reuters.
French lender Societe Generale said it is also
"adapting its position in line with UK government guidance",
without stating the number of workers recently returned to work
in its London offices who will now stay home.
Two other big British lenders told Reuters they will also
likely reverse recent return-to-work moves for non-essential
staff.
Lloyd's of London also asked its employees in the UK on
Tuesday to work from home following guidance from the
government. "Lloyd's Underwriting Room is certified as a
COVID-secure environment and will remain open for market
participants," the company's spokesperson said in a statement.
Goldman Sachs said in an internal memo on Tuesday its
UK headquarters will remain open to staff who need to remain in
the office.
"You are reminded that the wearing of masks is required at
all times in the office, except at your desk," chief executive
officer of Goldman Sachs International Richard Gnodde wrote in
the memo.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people to work from home
where possible and ordered bars and restaurants to close early
to tackle a fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19.
The latest advice comes just weeks after Johnson urged
people to return to their workplaces to try to limit the
economic damage to nearly-abandoned city centres.
Around 22,000 Barclays staff have remained working in its
offices worldwide throughout the pandemic, as designated key
workers needed to keep the financial system ticking over.
Of the roughly 1,000 more who had begun to return to work
worldwide, hundreds based in Britain will resume working from
home, the spokesman said, with others potentially following suit
if local advice changes in other countries.
Banks, including Barclays, had begun to return more staff to
office-based working, mainly in Britain where the government had
earlier encouraged people to resume their daily commutes.
More lenders are also expected to tell all but essential
staff to work from home, a source at another big British bank
said on Tuesday, asking not to be named.
Some banks, including NatWest Group, have told staff
they can work from home until next year.
(Reporting By Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise, Additional
reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; editing by Lisa
Shumaker, Mark Heinrich and Tom Brown)