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* Bank offices back to half-full, occupancy rising
* Office return comes despite rising virus cases
* HSBC, StanChart, Goldman see influx accelerating
By Lawrence White, Iain Withers and Rachel Armstrong
LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - There's no free lunch in finance
- except when banks are wooing workers back to the office.
London's financial sector, keen to return to a semblance of
normality after the worst of the pandemic, is leading the charge
to encourage employees back to their old lives, with some
companies even offering free food and social events.
It seems to be working; London's transport operator said
this week it recorded its busiest day since the pandemic hit in
March 2020, as workers filled once-deserted trains into the
capital's twin financial districts of the City and Canary Wharf.
Canary Wharf Group, which runs that district, also said it
was busier than at any time since last March. Crowds of office
staff thronged its plazas, while City workers bustled on London
Bridge and lounged by Tower Bridge in the resurgent September
sun.
"It feels like London offices post the summer-holiday period
should be starting to get back to normal in September and
October," said Ian Williams, who works at investment bank Peel
Hunt and was travelling back into his office in the City of
London this week for the first time.
Indeed Standard Chartered said that about 33% of
staff were in the office this week, up from 20% last week and
from a few dozen during lockdowns this year and last.
The bank is among those getting creative in rewarding staff
who make it into the office, in its case by providing free food.
Meanwhile Goldman Sachs, whose CEO has called home
working an "aberration", is offering sweet temptation with a
free gelato ice cream bar.
The investment bank said around 3,000 workers came in to its
Plumtree Court offices in London's City this week. That was
roughly 50% capacity, and up six times from the peak of
lockdowns when the bank operated with just 400-500 staff in per
day, it added.
Daily occupancy at HSBC's headquarters in Canary
Wharf rose to 1,800 people out of a possible 3,500 this week,
from a recent average of 1,000-1,500, the bank told Reuters, and
more are expected to join the crowd in the next few weeks.
There's no such thing as a free lunch there, though.
The bank has not prioritised offering incentives like free
food, its UK CEO Ian Stuart told Reuters, in recognition of the
fact that some 10,000 branch staff have come in to work every
day through the pandemic without such lures.
"We are trying to communicate very effectively that the
offices are safe, the first hurdle is getting people to come in
and try it and more and more are doing that," he said.
'BACK GETTING CRUSHED ON TRAIN'
A similar office influx is happening in the United States,
albeit cautiously amid fears about the spread of the Delta
coronavirus variant. Citigroup expects staff to come back
to offices in New York and other big cities two days a week from
Sept. 13, but only if they have been vaccinated.
Senior executives face a tricky task in encouraging staff
back to work at a time when cases of COVID-19 are still on the
rise in Britain and commuter trains above and below ground are
baking under near-record temperatures for September.
"It's a bit crazy, suddenly we're back to getting crushed on
the train and not everyone is wearing a mask," Rob, who works
for a financial firm, told a Reuters reporter on Tuesday on a
train into London's City district.
"I'd had enough of sitting at home, to be honest."
Investment bank executives have been among the most vocal on
the need for staff to return to the office.
They hope that the novelty of office working after a year
and half at home, plus the lure of mingling with senior
executives who might open the door to promotion, will outweigh
health concerns among young City staff.
JPMorgan has seen about 35% of its staff in its
Canary Wharf office this week, the highest proportion since the
first UK lockdown began and a number it expects to rise.
Other companies are poised to follow suit, including retail
bank NatWest, which is planning a phased return from next week
starting with 50% occupancy in its offices in England and
Scotland.
Insurer Phoenix Group has adopted another novel strategy for
helping staff readjust to returning to its offices, including in
the City.
It has run "safely social events" this week, where employees
were offered free food and soft drinks as well as coloured
lanyards to show how comfortable they were with levels of
interaction - ranging from "I'm keeping my distance" to "I'm OK
with high-fives".
(Reporting By Lawrence White, Iain Withers and Rachel
Armstrong; Additional reporting by Patrick Graham, Devik Jain,
and Noor Zainab Hussain; Editing by Pravin Char)
