Singapore Joins Wall Street in Planning for Return to Office

Singapore Joins Wall Street in Planning for Return to Office

(Bloomberg) -- Less-crowded trading floors, facial recognition systems and split work areas could all become routine for bankers in Singapore as the Southeast Asian financial hub readies for office life in a post-Covid world.

Financial institutions in the city should use more no-touch technology, allow more space for each employee and adopt split teams on trading floors once staff return after the pandemic, according to recommendations from a study commissioned by the city’s banking association and the Monetary Authority of Singapore that was published on Tuesday.

Lenders are also being encouraged to use hot-desking, motion detectors, temperature and face-mask detection screening and improved ventilation to avoid potential contamination, according to the report. Staff should be allowed to work from satellite offices or branches in addition to the main headquarters, it said.

Such measures “are imperative to strike a balance between workplace safety and minimizing disruption to business operations,” said the study, which was carried out by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Plc and some of Singapore’s biggest banks.

Cautious Approach

With more than 200 financial institutions operating in Singapore, the city is among global banking centers looking at how to get staff back to the office after they’ve spent more than a year juggling working from home and family life. The city-state has taken a cautious approach to returning staff to offices even as infection rates remain low.

“MAS encourages our financial institutions to consider the recommended strategies in the Playbook to enhance safety and resiliency in the workplace,” MAS deputy managing director Ong Chong Tee said in a statement. “This will be helpful to be well prepared for any situations in future that may require safe distancing and work-from-home arrangements.”

Wall Street has also been unveiling plans to bring more bankers back in the coming months. Hundreds of interns are set to work in JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s New York and London offices in the coming months. Citigroup Inc. will begin inviting more workers back in July, and expects 30% of its North America employees to return throughout the summer. By contrast, employees in Shanghai have been back in the office for months after the Chinese city was the world’s first major center to reopen last year after taming the virus.

新加坡与华尔街共同计划重返办公室

（彭博社）-东南亚金融中心准备在后Covid时代的办公室生活中，拥挤不堪的交易大厅，面部识别系统和分开的工作区域都可能成为新加坡银行家的日常工作。

根据纽约市银行业协会和金融管理局委托进行的一项研究的建议，该市的金融机构应使用更多的非接触式技术，为每位员工提供更多的空间，并在员工大流行后返回后在交易大厅内采用分裂的团队。周二出版的新加坡。

报告还鼓励贷款人使用办公桌，移动探测器，温度和口罩检测屏幕以及改善的通风以避免潜在的污染。它说，除总部外，还应允许工作人员在卫星办公室或分支机构工作。

这项研究由房地产咨询公司高纬环球（Cushman＆Wakefield Plc）和一些新加坡最大的银行进行。

谨慎的方法

在新加坡有200多家金融机构在运营，新加坡是全球银行业中心之一，致力于研究如何使员工在家庭和家庭生活中度过了一年多的工作后如何回到办公室。尽管感染率仍然很低，这个城市国家还是采取了谨慎的态度让工作人员返回办公室。

“ MAS鼓励我们的金融机构考虑《手册》中建议的策略，以增强工作场所的安全性和弹性，” MAS副董事总经理Ong Chong Tee在一份声明中说。“这将有助于为将来可能需要安全疏散和在家工作的情况下的任何情况做好充分的准备。”

华尔街也一直在宣布计划在未来几个月内吸引更多的银行家回来。未来几个月，数百名实习生将在摩根大通公司在纽约和伦敦的办公室工作。花旗集团（Citigroup Inc.）将在7月开始邀请更多的工人，并期望其30％的北美雇员在整个夏天返回。相比之下，在上海的员工已回到办公室数月后的中国城市是全球首款去年驯服病毒后重新主要中心。