HSBC Plans for Permanent Hybrid Work Model

HSBC is the latest to embrace hybrid working with plans to make it a permanent model for the bank worldwide.

My own view on the return to office is it would be a waste if we didn’t learn from the last 18 months, said HSBC group chief executive Noel Quinn.

The bank’s work-from-home embracement is part of broader plans to cut costs including a 40 percent reduction in property footprint in the coming years. It also changed its office policy to include two employees per desk, excluding branches, and scrapped the executive floor of its London-based headquarter.

We’ve learned to live and operate in a very different way, Quinn said, though he noted that he didn’t want to be overly prescriptive.

Despite the plans, Quinn highlighted some of the advantages of the physical workspace such as social relationships or spontaneity.

I don’t want to lose that DNA and that teamwork, he said. I’m really glad to be back in the office, seeing colleagues and having conversations in the corridor or in getting stuff done on the spur of the moment, rather than having to book a VC call or a telephone call.

Quinn also highlighted traveling in the pandemic era, with the bank expecting budget in this area to shrink by 50 percent.

I remember one day sitting at home, I traveled the world in a day, talking to clients in different parts of the world, he said. You can’t do that forever. You still want to have face-to-face interaction.

Global banks remain divided on work-from-home measures with some like Citi and Standard Chartered signaling or planning a permanent shift while others like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley preferring a return to the office.