Executives at Europe's Largest Bank Told to Try 'Hot Desking' (bbc.com) 69
"Banking giant HSBC has confirmed that top managers in its Canary Wharf HQ have lost their offices and will have to hot-desk on an open-plan floor," reports the BBC, noting it comes as the bank "pursues plans to shrink its office space by 40% in a post-pandemic shake-up."
Boss Noel Quinn said the whole bank was embracing "hybrid working" and he would no longer come in five days a week. "My leadership team and I have moved to a fully open-plan floor with no designated desks," he said on Linkedin.
Up to now, senior managers have been based on the 42nd floor of the building in east London in their own private offices. But in future, they will be jostling for workspaces two floors down, while their old offices have been transformed into client meeting rooms and other communal spaces. Mr Quinn told the FT that the old arrangement had been "a waste of real estate", adding: "Our offices were empty half the time because we were travelling around the world..."
He added that most staff at the bank would be able to work part-time from home in future. "A minority of roles can be done wholly remotely. We estimate, though, that most of our roles could be done in a hybrid way — and that includes myself and the executive team of the bank..."
Other firms in the sector have announced plans to embrace hybrid working as employees signal their desire to commute less. One big UK employer, the Nationwide building society, has indicated that it does not intend to force people to return to the office if they have been successfully able to work from home during the pandemic. It said about two-thirds of its 18,000 employees had been working from home for the past year.
Forbes has more context: [HSBC's] Quinn wrote in a LinkedIn post, "Having spent more than a year working from home, the last thing I want is to be stuck in an individual office when I return to the building." The chief executive said, "I want to have people around me, to reconnect with colleagues and friends and to be able to speak to them informally..."
Having a prime location in a prestigious city is highly expensive and a drag on earnings. If the costs of office space could be dramatically slashed, the banks would see significantly more free cash flow. The other driver is the acknowledgement that many people want to work part or full-time remotely for a variety of reasons. The last year served as a test case, which showed that it's possible to conduct business with a large segment of the workforce being remote...
HSBC is not alone in shedding properties in Europe. Lloyds Bank is also moving toward a hybrid model. This entails a 20% cut in office space over the next two years. The move was made after about 77% of Lloyds' 68,000 employees said they wanted to work from home for three or more days a week.
Up to now, senior managers have been based on the 42nd floor of the building in east London in their own private offices. But in future, they will be jostling for workspaces two floors down, while their old offices have been transformed into client meeting rooms and other communal spaces. Mr Quinn told the FT that the old arrangement had been "a waste of real estate", adding: "Our offices were empty half the time because we were travelling around the world..."
He added that most staff at the bank would be able to work part-time from home in future. "A minority of roles can be done wholly remotely. We estimate, though, that most of our roles could be done in a hybrid way — and that includes myself and the executive team of the bank..."
Other firms in the sector have announced plans to embrace hybrid working as employees signal their desire to commute less. One big UK employer, the Nationwide building society, has indicated that it does not intend to force people to return to the office if they have been successfully able to work from home during the pandemic. It said about two-thirds of its 18,000 employees had been working from home for the past year.
Forbes has more context: [HSBC's] Quinn wrote in a LinkedIn post, "Having spent more than a year working from home, the last thing I want is to be stuck in an individual office when I return to the building." The chief executive said, "I want to have people around me, to reconnect with colleagues and friends and to be able to speak to them informally..."
Having a prime location in a prestigious city is highly expensive and a drag on earnings. If the costs of office space could be dramatically slashed, the banks would see significantly more free cash flow. The other driver is the acknowledgement that many people want to work part or full-time remotely for a variety of reasons. The last year served as a test case, which showed that it's possible to conduct business with a large segment of the workforce being remote...
HSBC is not alone in shedding properties in Europe. Lloyds Bank is also moving toward a hybrid model. This entails a 20% cut in office space over the next two years. The move was made after about 77% of Lloyds' 68,000 employees said they wanted to work from home for three or more days a week.
Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:5, Funny)
I know at least a few people who have at least two WFH jobs. In Silicon Valley I guess itâ(TM)s needed. In fact one time one of my friends was pulled into a meeting from his team at company A with his team from company B. Amazingly he pulled it off by just saying his name and not what company he worked for. I am assuming he didnâ(TM)t have to talk much.
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Office Space 2: The Double Dip
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I'll probably look for another job if my employer requires me to go back to the office full time. I'm more productive at home and it's much better for work/life balance.
There are enough companies offering WFH now that it's a thing they have to compete over to retain good staff.
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you only show up at office-office maybe once a week
That's my situation. Pre-pandemic I worked 3-2 (MWF in the office, TTh at home). I got my vaccine so I am now on my post-pandemic schedule of 1-4 (1 day at the office, 4 days WFH). For my day at the office, I hot desk. This is fine with me because much of the day is spent in meetings anyway.
We are saving a ton on rent, people spend much less time commuting, and we still get together once a week for face-to-face meetings and a BBQ in the parking lot to maintain camaraderie.
Covid had a very positive effec
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:5, Interesting)
Not having a dedicated desk means that nobody can find you physically and you can't find anyone else either and for things like IT support that's pure hell when there's a need to do a physical visit.
There's also a much more efficient work environment if you from time to time can get your butt out of your chair and walk over to the person you'd like to communicate with. Some people are totally incommunicado over mail and chat but are great when you see them physically.
So hot desking sucks big time and wastes a lot of time just to maintain it.
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Not having a dedicated desk means that nobody can find you physically
Maybe someday everyone will carry a small electronic communication device with a unique numerical code.
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Yep. Wawste of time like entering desks into software used to book conference rooms and then everyone having to use that software everyday just to have a desk to sit at (at least officially) for the day, repeat everyday you go into the office. Oh, and with movng desks, forget personalizing your desk even a little.
Totally dehumanizing
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Two weeks later they called me to tell me if I didn't come in today I was fired. They hadn't even noticed when I left.
I'm not sure what you think this has to do with the hot desking concept. I actually think the idea of judging people by the work they deliver over time rather than walking past and seeing if their arse is sitting down is a sign of *good* management.
Also it didn't occur to you that they noticed you'd left but actually gave you a benefit of doubt, possibly thinking you were a good employee that didn't need to be watched? I mean clearly they were wrong to think of you as having even the most basic moral integr
Re:Nothing makes you feel less valued (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, while some folks seem OK with the whole "No assigned desk" nonsense, it's just another way to dehumanize the workforce. You aren't valued enough to have a "cube of your own", yoiu are a faceless, nameless cog....
The hell of hot-desking. 20 years to late (Score:1)
... to the party, well done HSBC.
I think practically everyone worked out that hot-desking was a complete and utter demoralisation exercise and didn't work.
Unless, of course, HSBC needs to lose a few clued up managers, then this possibly may be the cheapest way to do it.
Re:The hell of hot-desking. 20 years to late (Score:4, Funny)
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What is it. I learned what hot wifing is from Jerry Falwell, jr...
Is that "hot wifi-ing" or "hot wife-ing ??
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What is it. I learned what hot wifing is from Jerry Falwell, jr...
Is that "hot wifi-ing" or "hot wife-ing ??
Do you know who Jerry Fallwell, Jr is? Google his name and your question will be answered.
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HSBC has embraced the Bloody Stupid Johnson theory of manglement, massive turnover to follow
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Ya, I cannot think of a better Brexit slogan: You have no permanent job here so shut up and enjoy our new Musical Desks game. We hate you and don't even think of moving to Europe
Executives give up privilege ...for a short minute (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Executives give up privilege ...for a short min (Score:5, Insightful)
They'd basically have to reserve a conference room for the entire day
Frankly, as I was reading the summary my first thought was "how much you bet all the senior executives whose personal offices are being converted to meeting rooms will immediately lock down a meeting room perpetually - essentially turning it into their de-facto personal office?"
It might even be the same room they occupied before.
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Not many I'll bet. They will be enjoying their luxury homes instead.
Not giving up (Score:4, Interesting)
The reason they gave for giving up the office is that why would they want to spend time there when they can be in a five-star resort the company is paying for to meet with a high-end client.
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I’ve both seen and heard of executives who are never in their office, but want it anyway. I expect the executives are mainly doing this to force those “senior managers” mentioned in TFA to give up their offices. The execs may claim “hey I gave up my office too”; but, when the executives are onsite, there’s no way they’ll be joining in the scrum for a desk.
Re:Not giving up (Score:5, Insightful)
Executives at somewhere like HSBC don't get the luxury of sitting at a desk.
They're in back to back meetings or visiting a client or meeting key suppliers or talking to regulators or sometimes all of those at once.
I've been hotdesking when the CEO of a FTSE100 company came and set up his laptop next to me. He had all of ten minutes before needing to go to his next meeting but he wasn't scared of his employees, didn't have a problem sitting with us.
He did have an office but it was in a different building on another continent and he wasn't even in that city for 90% of the time.
Re:Executives give up privilege ...for a short min (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, what was not widely know, especially outside the company, was that the Inbev execs had a 2nd office built in NYC. An office they spend most of their time at and, coincidentally, one that is NOT open floor plan.
Obvious Dilbert (Score:5, Funny)
https://dilbert.com/strip/1995... [dilbert.com]
What's next? (Score:3)
Pretty soon our employers will start leasing our own desks to us.
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It’s not as crazy as it sounds. It would be a revenue source for white collar employers. If you want a permanent space, sure - no problem. We’ll just dock $10.00 a day from your paycheck. If this is the case, however, I would hope employers would allow th
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>Interesting - as most ‘white collar’ jobs don’t require employees furnish their own tools like many ‘blue collar’ jobs
Except for the BYOD (bring your own device) craze that went around the techy corporations a few years back.
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Pretty soon our employers will start leasing our own desks to us.
Not sure about you but I get paid an extra allowance to work from home precisely because the company is not providing me a desk. I also got a $1000 redressing allowance to setup my home office (screen, chair, desk, printer, etc) when my company introduced hot desking 4 years ago and gave us the option to WFH.
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Torchwood (Score:2)
Would make more sense if they had all private offi (Score:2)
Hot with pathogens (Score:5, Insightful)
Even before the pandemic, it was found that hot desking greatly worsens the spread of illnesses through an office. Until SARS-CoV-2 is completely eliminated from the human population, hot desking is an especially terrible idea.
Execs will not do hot desking if it's a desk they're spending any meaningful amount of time in. Most of them wouldn't imagine using an office without a private bathroom for an amount of time that might require a bathroom break. If companies want to force their executives to pay for their own mobile offices, this will do the trick. They'd probably buy double-decker luxury RVs like Hollywood A-listers use, but I like to imagine they might build giant tracked Mobile Oppression Palaces like in Code Geass (yes I like to think that Futurama joke was a Code Geass reference, because that's how the vehicles were mostly used :-P).
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It even SOUNDS unhygienic, like how sites of virus outbreak are called a "hot spot."
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My first thought on reading this story was about where to keep my keyboard/mouse etc. I'm no neat-freak but for a long time I have said that DSE [1] needs a hygiene section because of how gross keyboards can get. I would have thought that a post-covid world would heavily discourage and possibly outright ban shared keyboards - which means everyone needs a suitable locker for their kit.
[1] If the acronym doesn't translate. Display Screen Equipment. All about monitor and keyboard placement and good posture in
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A lot of people use only the keyboard and screen attached to their laptop.
No, I agree, it's not ideal for programming. It's perfectly adequate for many office jobs.
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At a previous employer using a laptop keyboard was explicitly banned if you were at a desk. You _had_ to use a proper external keyboard. They would just about allow you to walk up to a laptop in a lab environment and type a few commands directly and walk away, but any 'prolonged' stay needed a separate keyboard.
This worked both ways of course. You could always expect to be able to get a new keyboard, mouse, wrist-rest, foot-rest etc at short notice if you needed one.
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Perfect when discussing with clients (Score:4, Interesting)
Nothing says quality like discussing financial arrangements with your client and having to work around the guy next to you whose voice carries across the room (unfortunately, my voice can carry so I'm guilty of this). It will be like the old days of customer support when you could hear the other support specialists in the background.
And no, noise cancelling mics don't always work.
We're going to this format (IT shop) and while I can work from home, there are things I have to do to keep the organization running which require me to be on site. The nightmare of having to curb what I say to people on the phone because of others around me begins in six months.
Re:Perfect when discussing with clients (Score:5, Interesting)
Once I was talking to the person right next to me, frankly about some project aspect. Everything about our office seemed normal at the time, and there wasn't anything to be concerned about. Or so I thought.
Everyone in our little office tried to work as quietly and professionally, respectfully as possible. What I didn't realize is someone in our little room was wearing tiny Apple iBuds and was in the middle of a conference call, wasn't speaking, wasn't on mute, and everything I was saying was heard in their conference call. About 20 minutes later I received a call from the person that could hear me via the Apple iBuds and we had what I felt was a very uncomfortable conversation.
They probably won't notice... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Betcha that by "Executives" they mean "upper middle managers".
Ha-Ha (Score:3)
/Nelson
WFH is great for multiple jobs. (Score:1)
From April to Nov last year I had two fully remote WFH jobs (Cybersec), both interstate from me.
The only thing I had to juggle was 9am standups for both. I suddenly had "meetings" to attend to and alternated between them.
I got both done with glowing testimonials AND was making $2000/day with no-one any the wiser.
WIN-WIN !!
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Standups are often just a waste of time.
The importance and effectiveness of a meeting is inversely proportional to the number of participants.
Son good news then (Score:2)
The clib of vultures and thieves shrinks by 40%, giving even their top thugs bad feelings.
Sounds like more stuff is not redirected from coming to us to going to them.
Remember: Whenever you hear of "the economy booming", that very literally means they manage to rip more money *from you*.
It tries to imply that that works because you also have more to rip from you. But that is not a necessary thing.
Hell, nowadays, they don't evem need you! They can just make up "valuations" and buy your work with that! Or just
HSBC have always been evil (Score:2)
Work for evil organisation, get treated poorly. Is anyone really surprised at this latest example?
This experiment won't last long (Score:3)
" Hot Desking " or " Cube Sharing " are things the folks at the top like to think up for everyone else ( read that, not themselves ) as a cost saving measure. Once they get a good taste of it, the top folks will either demand to work from home full time, or will quit.
Nothing quite so humbling as realizing you're not quite as near the top of the food chain as you think you are when you're forced to rub elbows with the peasants. ( Wait till you have to fight for a bathroom stall that is clean enough to use )
"Hot-Desking" (Score:3)
I'll take "terms I don't dare Google from my work machine" for $200, Alex.
the very least an employer can offer (Score:2)
the very least an employer can offer is some kind of coffin with internet access. just dump me in a tube for 8 hours of surveillance-enforced work.
Office speak (Score:1)
finally... the end (Score:2)
...for open floor plans.
If top executives have to experience the crapshot environment finally, they will end it. For the first time they will understand WHAT bothers the people under them and WHY productivity isn't where it could be.
Works well here (Score:3)
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Working in open plan offices (Score:3)
Working in open plan offices is a nightmare when mental focus is an important part of the job. It is something that has often been forced on me and my teams throughout my career in software development.
IBM conducted studies/trials on this in the 70s and found open plan working had a significant negative impact on the productivity of their software developers. They found the most productive format was private offices surrounding a public common space. This was actually part of a HCI, human factors module of my Computer Science degree twenty five years ago. This information, is covered in the Mythical Man-Month book considered essential reading for all project managers.
Despite this Managers and Corporations typically insist on large open plan spaces for so called efficiency reasons. What they really mean is that it is cheaper, not more efficient.
Perhaps they will learn something from trying to work in the same conditions as their employees, perhaps not.
Brilliant post pandemic responce (Score:2)
LOL (Score:2)
Nomadland (Score:2)
"Banking giant HSBC" (Score:2)
It's more a scandal, money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion and avoidance and corruption giant.
Bad thing (Score:2)
On an unrelated note... (Score:1)
Go back to an open office environment? No thanks! (Score:2)
> "Having spent more than a year working from home, the last thing I want is to be stuck in an individual office when I return to the building."
I feel nearly the opposite. After a year working from home in what amounts to a private office, I have no desire to go back to the crapfest that is an open office environment! Give me an office with a door so that I can work, but can still choose to come out to talk to other people!