Financial institutions in China are calling employees back to office as an unusually low attendance rate has brought significant challenges to banks’ operations.
China-based capital market firm Sinolink Securities is asking staff who no longer show Covid symptoms to return to work, while those who have family members infected but have not tested positive themselves should also work from the office, according to a «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) report.
The company continues to focus on areas including employee well-being, workplace safety and business continuity, a Sinolink’s media representative said.
«Keep As Many People In Office»
One fund-management firm has released an earlier requirement that staff can only return to the office with a negative Covid test result within 72 hours, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Department heads were told to keep as many people in the office as needed to ensure business continuity, the source added.
At least two asset managers allow Covid-infected traders to work remotely for the first time, however, surveillance cameras need to be installed at home so that their transactions can be monitored when they are well enough to work, people familiar with the matter said.
Slowing Economy
The efforts come at a time when Covid infections, estimated near 37 million on a single day last week by the Chinese health authority, are slowing the country’s economy. The government’s easing of Covid Zero restrictions has led to the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant in the population.
The virus’ spread as the containment policy is rolled back has caused widespread disruptions to businesses, prompting cities including the western metropolis of Chongqing and those in the eastern manufacturing hub of Zhejiang province to push for workers with mild symptoms to go back to work, as «Bloomberg» reports.
Back-Up Plans
Some banks activated backup plans a few weeks ago to cope with a sudden uptick in the number of sick employees, which had in some cases led to a drop in onshore yuan-dollar spot volumes.
At one bank’s trading department, the majority of the traders were either off sick or working from home, making the previous arrangements such as split teams or routing trades through those at the office nearly impossible, one of the people said.
