BlackRock Lets Global Staff Work Remotely for Rest of Year

(Bloomberg) -- BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager, is allowing employees around the world to work remotely for the remainder of 2020.

The New York-based firm will permit its more than 16,000 employees to choose working remotely, at the office or a combination of the two as its facilities reopen following a split-operations model in most locations, according to a memo viewed by Bloomberg News.

The notice, sent to employees on Aug. 3, said that because of potential tax and compliance implications, they must tell the company if they are working from a location other than their home address on file.

The biggest Wall Street firms are navigating how and when to bring employees safely back to office buildings in global financial hubs, after lockdowns to address the Covid-19 pandemic forced them to do their jobs remotely for months. Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it will keep about 200,000 employees working at home through at least Oct. 1.

The longer-term guidance also builds on announcements made by companies outside the finance industry, including Alphabet Inc.'s Google, which said last week it will let employees work from home until July 2021.

A spokesman for BlackRock declined to comment beyond the memo.

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