FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank extended its work-from-home policy by two years on Tuesday, only requiring staff to be in the office for about 50% of their time, the bank said, just as some notable entities are reversing their remote work policies.
The ECB, the world’s second-largest central bank, will continue to allow staff to work 110 days remotely, or roughly half of their working time, and employees do not have to be in Frankfurt for most of their time away, the bank said.
JPMorgan Chase last month asked employees to return to the office five days a week starting in March, while U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered federal workers back to the office. Amazon and others asked staff to return to the office late last year.
The ECB said that 95% of its employees took advantage of its teleworking policy and spent 57 days on average away from the office, which was not detrimental to connections with within or outside the bank.
A survey of staff showed that 80% see no impact on how their managers perceive their work, and 88% report positive effects on their work-life balance from the arrangement. (This story has been corrected to add the phrase ‘most of,’ before ‘their time away,’ in paragraph 2)
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
