To alleviate the fatigue associated with the epidemic and work remotely, the new president of US bank Citigroup has banned video meetings on Fridays, wants to restrict calls outside normal business hours and encourage her employees to take time off.
Also read: Young Goldman Sachs employees call for 80 hours a week
Having reached the bank president in early March, Jane Fraser also plans to make May 28 a public holiday for all of the group’s employees.
She said in an internal message on Tuesday that these measures aim to meet the immediate need to change professional practices while waiting for the health situation to stabilize.
“I know from your comments and from my own experience that the lines between private life and professional life have become blurred and that working days have been rough since the start of the epidemic, damaging our well-being. It just isn’t sustainable,” she writes.
It decided therefore that any internal meeting on Friday should now take place only by sound.
Calls outside normal business hours or on weekends should also be restricted.
“We are of course a global company that operates across time zones, but when our work spills regularly at night, very early in the morning or on weekends, it can prevent us from recharging the batteries, which is not good for you either, nor for Citi.” Vindicated.
Mrs. Fraser, the first woman to be appointed director of a major Wall Street corporation, is also encouraging her employees to take time off and set the same example by taking a few days off at the end of March.
In the long run, when the pandemic recedes, the bank plans to introduce new forms of work.
“The majority of the world’s employees” will be in mixed mode and will be able to work from home up to two days a week.
Some functions will have to be performed on site, such as those used by bank branch employees or those working in data centers.
Some stations will be able to operate entirely by remote operation.
This new instruction was announced a few days after a document was posted on social networks prepared by young Goldman Sachs recruiters, complaining of endless schedules and extreme stress.
The investment bank promised to speed up recruitment of reinforcements and ensure that Saturday remains a day of rest.
Many companies are generally wondering how to organize themselves after a year of pandemic.
Microsoft announced on Monday that it, like Citigroup, is considering a hybrid situation for the majority of its employees over the long term.
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