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Traders at Wall Street's biggest bank are reportedly being ordered back to the office this month

Graham Rapier   

Traders at Wall Street's biggest bank are reportedly being ordered back to the office this month
Finance1 min read
  • JPMorgan told sales and trading staff this week that they would be required to return to the office September 21, The Wall Street Journal reported.
  • The move would be one of the biggest returns by US staff at a major Wall Street firm yet.
  • As other industries and financial units embrace long-term flexibility, traders have bemoaned that at-home setups have major drawbacks.

JPMorgan told workers in its sales and trading division to return to the office by September 21, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The directive was issued by two executives in conference calls Wednesday morning, the paper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Employees worried about childcare and health issues will be allowed to continue to work from home, according to the report.

The bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

A return to work by such a large division at the US's largest bank by assets is an industry first and also a massive vote of confidence in the ability of New York City to maintain such low levels of COVID-19, which allowed it to reopen some restaurants and schools this month.

Read more: Wall Street is starting to get back to work. Here are the latest return-to-office plans for 5 firms, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Once a national epicenter, new cases in the five boroughs have fallen to a seven-day average of 135, according to city data. That's far lower than many other areas of the US.

JPMorgan's decision also bucks a growing trend of employers looking to the future of workspaces as a flexible, or even optional, notion. Even on Wall Street, competitors like UBS have told employees that remote working is here to stay.

Still, some aspects of financial professions are not suited well to remote work, especially the high energy of a trading floor. Wall Street workers told Business Insider in March that even the most sophisticated of home setups had disadvantages.

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