Banks and other large employers are continuing to wrestle with how to run offices once the pandemic is hopefully a memory. In the case of RBC, it favours a mix of office and home working, rather than adopting a hardline approach.

Royal Bank of Canada’s chief executive says hybrid working as a model will stay in future, adding to the mix of financial services organisations wrestling with how to adapt after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We believe that flexible and hybrid work models are here to stay, and that the role of the office has forever changed. This means we’re going to hold onto the best of what we’ve learned over the past 18 months and recapture the best of everything we’ve missed from the pre-pandemic world,” Dave McKay, president and CEO, said in a statement on his LinkedIn page.

His message did not distinguish between different regions in which RBC operates, such as Asia-Pacific and the UK.

McKay’s comments add to debate among top banks about the best way to adapt to the pandemic and government controls. David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, has said he wants staff to return to the office, saying that working from home is “abnormal.” PricewaterhouseCoopers and Schroders are to allow the majority of staff to continue to work from home after the pandemic - raising questions about London's office-based culture and the impact on commercial real estate. Deutsche Bank is allowing flexible working; HSBC is allowing call centre staff to work from home. In April last year, shortly after the first wave of lockdowns was imposed, statistics released by the UK's Office for National Statistics showed that 49.2 per cent of adults in employment were working from home.

“You won’t see any one-size-fits-all mandate from RBC – we’re just not built that way. We’ve thousands of retail bankers, investment bankers, wealth managers, insurance advisors and tech innovators across the globe, working together every day to improve the lives of our clients and the communities around us,” he said. 

“Right now, leaders and teams across our bank are planning out the flexible work arrangements that best match their diverse everyday experiences and the needs of the clients they support. We’re making these decisions with an eye toward strengthening our inclusive, always-learning culture; encouraging collaboration and new ways of working; and ensuring employees feel supported, trusted and enabled regardless of where and when they are working on a given day,” he said.