Major bank orders up to 30,000 staff back to office at least two days a week
A major bank has told up to 30,000 employees who work mainly from home that from February they must be in the office at least two days a week, with Unite calling the move out of touch.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A major bank has ordered up to 30,000 employees who work predominantly from home to return to the office for at least two days a week from February. The requirement covers staff who had been working mainly remotely, according to the account given in the coverage.
Unite said the decision shows the bank is out of touch with the realities facing its workforce. The union pointed to higher travel and childcare costs for employees who would have to commute more often.
The move drew sharp criticism. One speaker called it 'utterly ridiculous' and argued that working from home must reduce productivity, adding that shareholders should be furious. Another speaker said a balance was needed but argued that the bank and other financial institutions had advertised jobs on the basis that people could work entirely from home.
That speaker also said employees had adjusted their lives around the contracts they were given, and that changing the arrangement would be a breach. They added that the institutions had saved significant costs by selling expensive office space in central London, so the issue was not one-sided.
Broader concerns about remote work were raised too. One speaker said home working was generally a bad idea because people are social and learn from each other. They highlighted the problem for recent graduates with no experience of the workplace, saying they should come into the office.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| A bank will require up to 30,000 mainly home-working staff to attend the office at least two days a week from February. | |
| A contributor said the bank and other financial institutions had advertised jobs on the basis that staff could work entirely from home. | |
| Unite said the return-to-office requirement showed the bank was out of touch with workforce realities, including higher travel and childcare costs. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The segment framed the bank's order as a controversial return-to-office mandate and focused on productivity, contracts, travel costs and childcare. It gave prominence to Unite's criticism and to contributors who challenged the bank, while including a qualified defence of remote work and a point about office cost savings. It offered little detail on the bank's identity or implementation beyond the February start and the two-day minimum.
- “this is utterly ridiculous”
- “work from home must reduce productivity”
- “i think there needs to be a balance”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.