Trading floors are thinning out owing to rising anxiety over the Omicron coronavirus variant, in a setback for Wall Street firms which have pushed to get their offices back to full capacity.
Traders were some of the first finance workers to return to the office last year. In the past, bank executives have stressed that the compliance risks from remote work as well as the inability to replicate the energy and teamwork of a trading floor virtually are reasons why traders were brought back to the office relatively quickly following the outbreak of the pandemic.
The likes of JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Citadel Securities, a leading market maker, have given staff more flexibility to work from home in recent days so long as they are not viewed as “essential”, according to people familiar with the matter.
In a memo to staff on Tuesday which was seen by the Financial Times, Citadel told employees that the company would resume its typical in-office work on January 3. During that week Citadel will require staff to take a rapid Covid test before coming to the office and to take a PCR test three times. The Royal Bank of Canada informed staff on Thursday that requirements to work from the office would be relaxed for most staff until January 17, according to a memo viewed by the FT.
Other Wall Street firms are standing their ground in regards to work from home policies, which have already become more flexible over the past year. Bank of America have not yet sent any memos encouraging staff to work from home and bankers at those firms say they do not expect one to come.
Bank of America is making other accommodations to make employees feel more comfortable coming in, like offering on-site booster clinics in each of its main markets starting next month.
