HSBC to let HK staff work from home 4 days a week

HSBC (0005) is offering its Hong Kong staff the opportunity to work as many as four days a week from home as well as a one-off allowance of HK$2,500 to help them set up office remotely.

The move is the latest sign how the pandemic is transforming the role of the office in business life.

The London-based lender, which counts Hong Kong as its biggest market, is now allowing eligible staff to work two days or four days a week from home, according to an internal memo and guidelines seen by Bloomberg.

An HSBC spokeswoman confirmed the plan, which offers varying degrees of flexibility for employees.

"In recent employee exchanges and surveys, some of you have expressed an interest in a blend of in-office and home working," the memo sent to staff on November 4 said.

HSBC has provided three options, including a "flexible home worker" role that's primarily home-based, with a fixed work-from-home schedule of as many as four days a week. Other options include being a "flexible office worker," who may work from home up to two days a week, and a permanently office-based role.

The bank is introducing a one-off allowance of HK$2,500 to purchase items to set up an ergonomic home office for employees who commit to work from home at least two days a week for a minimum of 12 months, the memo added.

Standard Chartered (2888) and DBS made similar announcements earlier.

Standard Chartered said employees in nine markets, including Hong Kong, can choose to work flexibly from next year and it hopes to cover 90 percent of employees by 2023. Employees can choose to work entirely from home, entirely in the office, or a combination of the two.

DBS also stated that all employees will have the flexibility to work remotely, accounting for up to 40 percent of the total working time. The bank will provide retraining and further education opportunities to more than 7,200 employees.

BOC Hong Kong (2388) meanwhile has implemented flexible work arrangements since the pandemic and will explore more work from home style.

And the Bank of East Asia (0023) has offered flexibility for work in response to the pandemic and will review the arrangements from time to time.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is preparing to trim its workforce for the second time in just three months, as a moratorium on firings during the pandemic gives way to a push to improve efficiency.

This round isn't expected to exceed the roughly 400 positions the bank began eliminating in September. But executives anticipate going deeper in the coming year, in what could eventually amount to one of the most significant staff reductions at the bank as it looks to deliver on a promise to rein in costs.