(CNN Business) — The CEO of one of Wall Street’s top investment banks has a message for employees at his New York offices. You have to go back to work this fall.
Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman said in a investment conference, earlier this week, that it’s time for bank workers in New York to get back to the office now that more people are getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and life is slowly returning to normal.
“If you can go to a restaurant in New York City, you can go into the office. And we want you in the office, ”Gorman said.
Gorman made the remarks Monday at an annual conference on financial payments and commercial real estate. He joked that he was doing it from the company’s New York office and also wearing a suit and tie.
The back-to-office plan
Gorman said many Morgan Stanley employees have already begun to slowly return to the company’s headquarters at 1585 Broadway in Times Square a couple of days a week.
But Gorman said that once the summer is over, most New York workers will have to get off Zoom and take the subway to the office more regularly.
“For Labor Day, I will be very disappointed if people have not found their way to the office and then we will have a different kind of conversation,” he said, adding that workers cannot expect to receive their wages in New York if they continue to work. remote form.
“If you want New York rates paid, work in New York,” Gorman said. “Nothing that ‘I’m in Colorado […] and they pay me like I’m sitting in New York City. ‘ I am sorry. That does not work”.
There will be flexibility in the return
Gorman was quick to point out that the company would remain flexible when it comes to dividing time between home and office. He said the policy would not be “dictatorial,” noting that many working parents still need be at home with your children if they are not at school or camp.
Gorman also noted that he expects the majority of Morgan Stanley workers who return to the office to be vaccinated, and said that “more than 90%” of employees had already received the COVID-19 vaccine and that he hoped that number would eventually. will reach 98% to 99%.
But Gorman admitted that some employees may not get vaccinated for religious or health reasons and that the company will take care of that.
Other offices
Gorman was also quick to point out that the company’s return-to-office policy would be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. The company has offices around the world and also recently purchased brokerage and investment management firm E-Trade Eaton Vance.
Morgan Stanley has 10,000 employees in India, which has recently been particularly affected by covid-19.
“They’re not going back to work,” Gorman said. “That is not a 2021 problem.”
“I don’t think it’s helpful to make a blanket statement for all employees,” he added. “I don’t think talking to the employees who work at 1585 Broadway in Times Square is the same as talking to a small office in Topeka.”
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