When the COVID-19 pandemic began the shift to remote work for many large organizations – including banks and insurance companies – was jarring. But as the months progressed, workers adapted readily to their new set ups and in most instances became more productive while achieving a better sense of that all-too-elusive work-life balance.

However, as the pandemic drags into a second year and as more vaccines are distributed there are rumblings that working remotely isn’t here to stay. Recently, Google announced its plans to bring workers back to the office even before their original September 1, 2021 goal. So, how is the financial services industry approaching this issue?

In this week’s roundup we take a look at HSBC and JPMorgan’s plans for returning to the office – or not – and share some resources on how to implement a long-term secure remote work environments.

JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon on the Future of Remote Work

JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, arguably one of the most influential business leaders in the world, has been somewhat oblique on the future of remote work at the company. With significant investments in real estate in Manhattan, including a commitment to build a new skyscraper in New York, Dimon has recently been signaling that remote work is not here to stay.

In a letter to shareholders he noted that only “[g]enerally speaking, we envision a model that will find many employees working in a location full time a small percentage of employees … [and that] maybe 10% will possibly be working full time from home for very specific roles.”

To learn more about Dimon’s reasons for favoring a return to the pre-pandemic status quo click here.

HSBC Moves 1,200 Staffers to Remote Work

Meanwhile, British banking giant HSBC, will be moving the majority of its contact center staffers to permanent remote work. The 1,200 staffers, who represent 80 percent of the bank’s contact center staff, volunteered to work from home. HSBC is now working out the details of the new arrangements to ensure that “we can offer flexibility on work location while ensuring the way we work meets our customers’ needs.”

You can read more about HSBC’s decision making process here.

A Lesson on Remote Work from the Federal Government

One of the unexpected champions of remote work has been the U.S. federal government and agency experiences with shifting to work from home holds valuable lessons for the financial services industry. After all, while their vertical industry focuses are different, federal agencies, like banks and insurers, are large, complex organizations with rigorous security and compliance requirements so their experiences in setting up and supporting virtual contact centers might provide some valuable lessons to banks like HSBC .

Hear us out on our Federal Remote Worker Podcast.