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NEW YEAR-MATIN. Nearly three years after the mass adoption of telecommuting, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) now requires being in the office three to four days a week, reports Reuters.

On Tuesday, the bank notified its employees that starting May 1, 2023, they will have to spend most of their time at their desks. Now, they can only work from home once or twice a week.

The organization, which employs 97,000 people worldwide, is the Canadian financial institution with the most stringent telecommuting policies.

The Desjardins movement, for example, requires its employees to appear only once a week, while Banco TD only requires it twice. The National Bank of Canada, meanwhile, wants them to spend at least 40% of their time in the office.

gradual return

As of August 2022, RBC CEO Dave McKay has started showing his colors, asking in an internal memo for all employees to leave the comfort of their homes more to spend time in the presence of their colleagues. Expecting to see them back in the office two to three times a week, he made it clear that telecommuting is here, however, “to stay.”

Then, in early March, during a conference call with his shareholders about first-quarter results, the leader upped the ante, remember Globe and Mail.

He went on to say that productivity and innovation in his organization had taken a toll because most of his employees were working from home.

adapted size

Therefore, those responsible for each department should adapt their return to work directives three to four times a week according to their needs, and will inform their colleagues of the next steps.

If he realized that this request could cause inconvenience to some of his teammates, RBC considered that it would be “the best thing to do for the team”, reported the Globe and Mail.

In a note sent Tuesday to employees, RBC pointed out that face-to-face allows you to solve “complex problems more quickly, learn and grow more effectively and, ultimately, create stronger bonds with others.”

Without increased traffic to his workspace, he fears the organization’s competitiveness will suffer.