Citigroup Is Sticking With a Hybrid Work Schedule. Here's Why It Gives the Bank a Competitive Advantage, According to Its CEO. Citigroup is standing its ground as other Wall Street banks enforce strict return-to-office mandates.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Citigroup is keeping its hybrid schedule, CEO Jane Fraser recently told managing directors.
- Fraser said that Citigroup's hybrid policy gives it a competitive advantage while recruiting staff.
- Meanwhile, Citigroup's peers, like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, are mandating RTO schedules.
Citigroup isn't following fellow Wall Street banks like JPMorgan and implementing a strict return-to-office policy. According to recent reports, Citigroup has decided to stick with its hybrid schedule which allows staff up to two days per week of remote work.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser told managing directors on a quarterly call in mid-January that the bank will continue to have a hybrid work schedule, The Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Per the report, Fraser said that Citigroup's hybrid work policy gives it a competitive advantage by allowing it to recruit talented staff.
The majority of Citigroup's 210,000-person workforce is on the hybrid schedule now, with only traders and staff at bank branches expected to be in the office five days per week.
Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Fraser has taken measures to help Citigroup's workforce establish a measure of work-life balance. In March 2021, she sent a memo to the bank's staff creating Zoom-Free Fridays, where employees were not required to take video calls on Fridays. She also encouraged staff to keep their work to working hours and take their vacation time.
Related: Remote Walmart Employees Question Return-to-Office Policy, Some Opt to Quit Instead of Relocating
"When our work regularly spills over into nights, very early mornings, and weekends, it can prevent us from recharging fully, and that isn't good for you, nor, ultimately, for Citi," Fraser wrote in the memo.
Fraser's stance on hybrid work, as giving Citigroup an advantage over the competition, contrasts with that of other banks on Wall Street, like JPMorgan. Last month, JPMorgan asked all of its 300,000-plus employees to return to the office five days per week by March. Employees pushed back almost immediately on a company post announcing the mandate, with over 300 comments explaining that the policy would affect their childcare costs, commute, and work-life balance.
Other Wall Street institutions asked employees back to the office even earlier. Goldman Sachs told its U.S. employees that they had to be back in the office by June 2021.
Meanwhile, several major companies have decided to stay with more flexible schedules. Starbucks has maintained a hybrid schedule with two days working remotely for its corporate employees while Spotify has a work-from-anywhere policy.
Related: 'Retiring the Hybrid Policy': Dell Issues a Strict Return-to-Office Mandate for Most Employees
