BlackRock will require employees to commute to the office at least four days a week, the latest company to roll back liberal work-from-home policies enacted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The New York-based asset manager with approximately 20,000 employees in more than 30 countries said that as of 9/11, staff will be able to Work from home only one day a week, according to an internal note.
“We encourage you to transition to this model by increasing your days in the office, as your schedule permits, over the next few months,” says the memo signed by Rob Goldstein, chief operating officer, and Caroline Heller, HR manager.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with more than $9 trillion under management, joins a growing corporate push to make employees spend more time in the office. JPMorgan Chase announced in April that it would require CEOs to return to the office five days a week.
The ordinance will provide modest relief to adjacent office and business owners who have suffered as a result of continuing home working. Office occupancy in New York City is still just under 50 percent, roughly the national average, according to a barometer produced by Kastle Systems, the company that manages the security systems in many buildings.
Speaking to investors in February, Steven Roth, chief executive officer of Vornado Realty Trust, one of New York’s largest office owners, admitted the five-day workweek was over. “I think you can assume Friday is dead forever,” Roth said. On Monday, he added, it was “hit and run”.
by BlackRock order adds one day to his current requirement of three days a week in the office. He said his new policies were meant to encourage collaboration and education. “Career development occurs in moments of teaching among team members and is accelerated during moments of market movement. . . All of this requires us to stay together in the office,” according to the memo.
The company moved to a new location in the Hudson Yards development in Manhattan in early 2023, bringing employees in from its old Midtown office during the first quarter of the year. He signed the lease on the 970,000-square-foot unbuilt space seven years ago.
“We felt the energy generated by being together, in our larger offices, in our new spaces. . . this energy, and the horizontal collaboration it fuels, is what makes BlackRock so special,” the memo reads.
Employees should “consistently adhere to the . . . requirements” to be in the office four days a week. Employees would still be able to work remotely for two weeks a year during a “significant” time period, such as the summer.
BlackRock said, “When things happen that are fast-moving and of great interest to clients, having our teams physically together to find solutions, seize opportunities and learn from each other makes all the difference. . . See you in the office!”
Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin in New York
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