Barclays, Lloyds, Goldman Sachs Tell UK Staff to Work from Home

Lillian Jijingi

Barclays, Lloyds, French bank Societe Generale, US investment bank Goldman Sachs and other major banks are now telling hundreds of their UK staff to go back and work from home where they can. This is in line with the recent address by the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, revealing new restrictions and urging workers to work from home where they are able to do so.

French lender Societe Generale said it is also “adapting its position in line with UK government guidance”, without stating the number of workers recently returned to work in its London offices who will now stay home.

Lloyd’s of London also said it had told its employees in the UK to work from home following guidance from the government, but that this did not apply to the independent brokers who use its Lime Street headquarters.

“Lloyd’s Underwriting Room is certified as a COVID-secure environment and will remain open for market participants,” the company’s spokesperson said in a statement.

Goldman Sachs said in an internal memo on Tuesday its UK headquarters will remain open to staff who need to remain in the office.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told people to work from home where possible and ordered bars and restaurants to close early to tackle a fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19. The latest advice comes just weeks after Johnson urged people to return to their workplaces to try to limit the economic damage to nearly-abandoned city centres.

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