Boris Johnson’s push to encourage more workers to physically return to their desks in August received a boost today as the boss of Barclays bank said he wants his staff to return to their offices.
The bank’s CEO, Jes Staley, said ‘it is important to get people back together in physical concentrations’ and that a return would take place on a ‘prudent time schedule’.
Mr Staley said he and the bank ‘expect and want’ employees to head back to work ‘over time’.
He also insisted the bank has a ‘responsibility’ to places where it has offices, like Canary Wharf and Manchester.
Mr Staley’s comments are likely to be warmly welcomed by Downing Street after Mr Johnson announced earlier this month that work from home rules will be relaxed in a bid to stimulate the economy.
Jes Staley, Barclays’ CEO pictured in Downing Street in January 2018, said today ‘it is important to get people back together in physical concentrations’
The comments came after Boris Johnson, pictured in Beeston yesterday, urged workers to physically return to their desks in August
There are growing fears in the Government that the work from home guidance which was in place during lockdown represents a threat to the UK’s chances of a swift economic recovery.
That guidance said people should work from home if they are able to.
But Mr Johnson said at a press conference on July 17 that from August ‘instead of government telling people to work from home, we’re going to give employers more discretion and ask them to discuss how their staff can work safely’.
Ministers are hoping that the return of more workers to their pre-lockdown routines will help save deserted town and city centres.
Mr Staley signalled during an interview with Bloomberg today that he wants his staff to head back to the office.
‘In terms of people working from home, it is extraordinary,’ he said. ‘We have some 60,000 people working from their kitchen tables.
‘That we had the technology, the systems, the controls, the compliance to do all that is quite something.
‘But I should also add that we have 20,000 people in the UK that are actually working from offices or working from our branches, they are working from our call centres.
‘We expect and want to get, in a prudent time schedule, taking care of the health and wellbeing of our employees, it is important to get people back together in physical concentrations.
‘We need to do it, considering the pandemic. But we also have a responsibility to places like Canary Wharf, like Manchester, like Glasgow, so we have learned a lot through this dynamic work environment.
‘I am sure we will use a lot of the things that we have learned going forward but also we want our people back together, make sure we ensure the evolution of our culture, our controls, and I think that will happen over time.’
Mr Staley’s comments came as it emerged that Barclays took a further £1.6 billion hit from the coronavirus crisis in the second quarter of the year even as the investment arm of the bank managed to keep it in profit.
The bank said it would see a pre-tax profit of £1.27 billion in the first half of the financial year, down from £3 billion the year before. It came on revenue of £11.62 billion in the first half of 2020.
Earlier this year Barclays revealed a £2.1 billion hit in its first quarter, citing the impact of coronavirus. It takes the total impairment for the first half to £3.7 billion.
However, while the retail arm of the bank saw a major hit from the coronavirus, the bank’s corporate investment arm saw a 31 per cent jump in income to £6.9 billion, helping to keep Barclays in the black during the first half.
Mr Staley said: ‘Credit impairment charges increased to £3.7 billion in the first half due to the forecast impact of Covid-19.
‘However, our improved pre-impairment performance ensured that we still delivered £1.3 billion profit before tax for the first half of 2020, post impairment.
‘While the remainder of 2020 will be challenging, our diversified model means we can remain financially resilient and continue to support our customers and clients.’