ING boss: even after corona, half of the work can be done from home | Financial

At the moment, 80 percent of all ING staff work from home, as the corona virus is in a second or even third revival in many countries. Today’s experiences teach that a lot is possible in the field of remote working. This will also change the role of office spaces and their layout, Van Rijswijk explains. “It could well become like football canteens. You first meet in a group for informal consultation at the office, and then you go home to continue working. ”

According to the CEO, the fact that 50 percent of ING staff can work from home is not a rule but a “basic assumption.” The bank is currently investigating which guidelines can be used in eight countries. Attention is also paid to the regulations in the various countries where the bank operates.

The major bank is behind a growing number of companies that want staff to permanently do part of the work at home. Telecom company KPN reported on Tuesday that it was investigating whether it could be done with fewer offices. Major American tech companies, including Microsoft and Twitter, have also announced plans for the future that will make working from home a regular part of the working week.

Where ING expects more work next year is the special management department, which accommodates corporate clients with acute financial problems. At the moment there is no extra workload in this department, but the bank has already deployed additional staff for this. According to Van Rijswijk, support measures from the government and banks are still ensuring that business customers remain afloat despite the second lockdown. “It is still a little early for an increase in special management. Payment breaks by banks often last until the end of this year and in some cases even longer. ”

Since the corona crisis, ING itself has provided approximately 200,000 payment holidays to customers worldwide. About 60 percent of this was for business customers and 40 percent for households. This postponement was granted especially in April, shortly after the first worldwide virus outbreak.

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