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* A third of staff to work mainly from home
* Bank has no immediate plans to cut more offices
* Pandemic causing permanent changes to work habits
(Adds detail)
By Lawrence White
LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Britain's NatWest expects
only about 13% of its staff to return to primarily office-based
working, the lender said on Tuesday as it revealed a
three-pronged approach to post-pandemic working habits.
A NatWest spokeswoman told Reuters that 55% of staff will
adopt a hybrid working model, mixing home and office working,
while 32% will adopt a 'remote-first' model with a minimum of
two days a month in the office and the remainder sticking with
the 'office-first' model.
"For some of you, it will be clear which category your role
fits within. For others, it may be less clear – and may depend
on other factors," Chief Executive Alison Rose had told staff in
a speech subsequently posted on the bank's website on Tuesday.
The changes will take place after consultation with
employees' managers and in a phased manner, Rose said.
The update from NatWest offers one of the clearest signs yet
from a major British bank of how employees' working lives will
change as many of the home-working arrangements required during
the pandemic are adopted permanently.
Despite the shift to more remote working NatWest has no
immediate plans to close more offices, the spokeswoman said, in
contrast with some British banks.
HSBC aims to cut its office footprint by 40% over
the long term, the bank said in February, and is moving about
1,200 call centre staff in Britain to permanent home working,
Reuters reported in April.
NatWest has so far only closed its Regents House office in
London and is keeping its real estate under review, the
spokeswoman said.
The bank has spent the past year converting its offices to
suit the new working patterns, with more space for collaboration
and drop-in workers, she added.
(Reporting by Lawrence White
Editing by Jan Harvey and David Goodman)
