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JPMorgan told workers in its sales and trading division to return to the office by September 21, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The directive was issued by two executives in conference calls Wednesday morning, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Employees worried about child-care or health issues will be allowed to continue to work from home, according to the report.
The bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
A return to work by such a large division at the US' largest bank by assets is an industry first and also a massive vote of confidence in the ability of New York City to maintain such low levels of COVID-19, which has allowed it to reopen some restaurants and schools this month.
Once a national epicenter, new cases in the five boroughs have fallen to a 7-day average of 135, according to city data. That's far lower than many other areas of the United States.
JPMorgan's decision also bucks a growing trend of employers looking to the future of workspaces as a flexible, or even optional, notion. Even on Wall Street, competitors like UBS have told employees that remote working is here to stay.
Still, some aspects of financial professions just are not suited well to remote work, especially the high energy of a trading floor. Wall Street workers told Business Insider in March that even the most sophisticated of home set-ups had disadvantages.
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See Also:
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