Unicredit is preparing for a widespread adoption of smart working in the post-Covid time. The plan, which kicks off in September as a pilot project, provides for employees to be able to work from home 40% of the time once the post-pandemic work arrangements are concluded. We will begin a gradual return to the office starting in September and in the fourth quarter we will carry out a pilot project to enable sustainable hybrid work starting next year, the bank’s group operating officer, Ranieri de Marchis, announced in an interview with Bloomberg. The bank is working on a plan that will allow administrative and headquarters staff to work from home about 2 days a week on a voluntary basis, while branch employees can opt for 1 day a week from home. Final provisions will depend on how the pandemic evolves and on the specific conditions in each country. The UniCredit project led by the human resources team, IT and real estate departments.
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The redesign of spaces
For this new model the spaces will have to be redesigned, with probably a smaller number of assigned desks but more space for each person and additional common areas. The project is not aimed at saving or downsizing our properties, highlighted de Marchis. Our goal is to create a new sustainable way of working. If in the end we see that there is more space than necessary, we will reevaluate.
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The unions: we will check
The first reactions of the trade unions to the announcement of the group led in April by the new CEO Andrea Orcel, who is also redesigning the front line of management and the new strategy of the institute, were positive. What De Marchis claims, with respect to the use of smart working in the new Unicredit course, to be appreciated because, without tricks or deceptions, it respects the provisions of the national collective labor agreement, renewed in December 2019, which establishes, for smart working , maximum 10 days a month and establishes the voluntary nature of the worker. This was underlined by the secretary general of Fabi, Lando Maria Sileoni, therefore an important first step – adds Sileoni – which goes in the right direction, the one that Fabi has long hoped for, to give the possibility, at the end of the pandemic, to those who wish it, both to return to the company and to work partially remotely. We will obviously verify in the meetings that the company will agree with the group unions.
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