HSBC has scrapped the executive floor at its Canary Wharf offices to make room for collaborative spaces and client meeting rooms in the post-pandemic economy.
Executives who were formerly treated to sweeping views of London from the 42nd floor of the bank's Canary Wharf HQ will now be relocated two floors down and forced to hot desk on an open plan floor.
"Our offices were empty half the time because we were traveling around the world. That was a waste of real estate," HSBC chief Noel Quinn told the Financial Times. "If I'm asking our colleagues to change the way that they're working, then it's only right that we change the way we're working."
"We don't have a designated desk. You turn up and grab one in the morning. I won't be in the office five days a week. I think it's unnecessary...It's the new reality of life."
The latest move comes just weeks after the bank announced plans to move 1200 of its call centre staff to permanent working from home contracts as part of a wider reassessment of its real estate needs.
Speaking to analysts in February, Quinn remarked: “Canary Wharf will be the primary London office, [but] the nature of working in that office will change to have a higher occupancy per square foot because we’ll have a hybrid style of working and we’ll probably release premises elsewhere in London.”
The bank is designating two people per desk as part of the policy shift, giving it the flexibility to cancel city centre leases that are due for review over the next two-to-three years.