The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the National Bank of Canada said on Wednesday they had asked staff in Canada to work remotely, joining the Bank of Nova Scotia in halting plans to return to offices amid concerns increasing numbers for the Omicron variant.
Canada’s top health official, Theresa Tam, warned Monday that COVID-19 cases in the country could increase rapidly in the coming days, causing banks and financial firms to rethink their plans to return to power.
“We made the decision to put our plans on hold” for a return to work in January, said Sandy Sharman, group leader for people, culture and brand at CIBC, the nation’s fifth largest lender, in an internal memo.
Sharman cited an increase in COVID-19 cases and uncertainties due to the new variant. Staff recently returned to work on site have also been invited to work remotely. “We intend to return as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Earlier Wednesday, National Bank, the country’s sixth-largest lender, confirmed a similar message to employees.
“A message has just been sent to our employees asking them to work remotely if they can,” a spokesperson told Reuters in an email. “In the longer term, we are staying the course with our gradual reopening plan, on a voluntary basis, with no fixed date.”
The rapid spread of the Omicron strain has taken its toll on companies’ efforts to get back to normal.
The Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest lender, announced Monday that it will suspend plans to return remote workers to its Toronto head office as of January 17.
In the United States, JPMorgan said Wednesday it is making its annual health conference in San Francisco a “virtual” event. The move came after big biotech companies like Moderna and Amgen said they would not participate in person.
New York and New Jersey are experiencing the fastest spread of Omicron in the United States, according to data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A source from a major US bank headquartered in Manhattan said there was “increased diligence” as a result of the Omicron variant. A number of employees have chosen to work from home out of caution before the holidays, the source said.
Insurer Prudential postponed its plan to return to power in the United States to January on a voluntary basis, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. However, that decision was made before Thanksgiving, the source said.
Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial said on Tuesday it had suspended its pilot project to reopen offices for more employees until the end of January.
Last week, Jefferies asked staff to work from home for the rest of the year, due to a spate of COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, JPMorgan asked unvaccinated Manhattan staff to work from home.
Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman said on Monday he expects COVID-19 to be an issue within the next year.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Manya Saini in Bengaluru, and Nichola Saminather in Toronto; Writing by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Mark Heinrich and Richard Pullin)
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