(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG said it's planning to introduce a work model that gives the bank employees in Switzerland “maximum flexibility,” joining global peers in making remote working arrangements more permanent.
The approximately 13,000 employees of the universal bank in Switzerland will, depending on their role, be able to decide with their teams and line managers how much of their time they want to spend outside the office and which days to be in, according to a statement from the bank on Monday.
“As we prepare for a post-pandemic world, our aim is to become more flexible and agile when it comes to working arrangements,” Credit Suisse Switzerland CEO Andre Helfenstein said in the statement.
The bank said the roll-out of its new policy to the rest of the roughly 49,000 employees in total across four business divisions and other geographic regions will be determined by guidelines related to the Covid-19 pandemic in each country.
The Swiss lender joins a wave of competitors including UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. that are all set to allow employees to work remotely at least part of the week. Unlike peers, however, Credit Suisse has not specified the number of days employees must work in the office.
Recruiting Edge
Global banks are diverging in their approach to the return-to-office, with some using flexibility as a recruiting edge. Others, including U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have been pushing to get their bankers back behind their desks in a manner closer to practices before the pandemic.
At Credit Suisse, the measures were launched after the bank conducted a 6-month study of how its employees performed under various work models. The study found that employees with the most flexible work models were the happiest and most productive, and going forward wanted to to spend two-thirds of their time from home or another non-office location. The bank is also developing other technology-based tools to promote collaboration in a virtual environment.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
