HSBC, Hong Kong, will allow its staff greater flexibility for work, by allowing them to work at least four days a week from their homes.
This move comes as a response to the shifting dynamics of office work culture. The Bank gave its employees three options to choose from — work remotely for four days or two days, or choose to be permanently office-based.
Employees who choose to work for two days a week from their home, for at least a year, will receive an allowance of around $ 322, for purchases pertaining to remote work.
The banking giant is based in London but its biggest profits come from Hong Kong, where it has 30,000 employees. The Hong Kong offices have partly resumed their operations with the adoption of a hybrid model. This will also help HSBC reduce office costs.
The Bank’s recent survey for employees revealed that at least one-fourth of its staff was keen to have a full-time work-from-home arrangement, post the pandemic. Half of them want a hybrid model and the rest want a full-time office-based position.
Evan Stevenson, chief financial officer, HSBC, explained that they were looking at introducing a hybrid model for some of their 2,30,000 staff.
The Bank’s Hong Kong rival, Standard Chartered, also intends to offer flexible work options to 90 per cent of its 85,000 strong workforce, for over three years. Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings plans to offer flexible work options to its staff for at least 40 per cent of their work time.
