FILE PHOTO: The National Bank of Canada logo is seen outside of a branch in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo
December 15, 2021
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Manya Saini
(Reuters) -National Bank of Canada said Wednesday it had asked staff to work remotely, if possible, making it the second large Canadian bank to return to work from home amid concerns over the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Omicron, which health officials say is more contagious than the Delta variant, has spread rapidly in Canada since it was first detected in November.
“A message was just sent to our employees asking them to work remotely if they can,” a spokesperson for Canada’s sixth-biggest lender told Reuters in an email. “In the longer term, we are staying the course with our plan of reopening gradually, on a voluntary basis, with no set date.”
The decision impacts nearly 20,000 staff which the bank has in Canada.
Banks and financial firms across North America are reassessing return-to-work plans due to the spread of the Omicron variant.
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest lender, said Monday it would pause its plan for employees working remotely to return to its Toronto head office starting on Jan. 17.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has wreaked havoc with companies plans to return to normalcy.
JPMorgan said Wednesday it was making its annual healthcare conference in San Francisco a ‘virtual’ event. The decision came after major biotech firms like Moderna and Amgen said they would not attend in person.
Insurer Prudential has pushed back its return to office plan in the United States to January on a voluntary basis, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. However, that decision was made prior to Thanksgiving, the source said.
Last week, Jefferies asked staff to work from home for the remainder of the year, due to a spate of Covid cases. On Tuesday, JPMorgan told unvaccinated Manhattan staff to work from home.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Writing by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Mark Porter, Alexandra Hudson)
Source: One America News Network
