Deutsche Bank’s Underused Offices Prompt It To Tell Staff: No Friday And Monday WFH

Big corporate office occupiers across the globe are working out what the world of hybrid work means for their real estate footprints. Now one of the world’s biggest banks has decided that its often empty offices mean it needs to change its work-from-home policy.

Deutsche Bank has told employees they can’t work from home on Friday and the following Monday, Bloomberg reported, ending the possibility of four consecutive days out of the office. 

In a memo to staff, Deutsche Bank said that it wanted to “spread our presence more evenly through the week” because its current real estate usage is “inefficient,” according to Bloomberg.

Deutsche Bank’s guidance cuts to the heart of one of occupiers' thorniest issues created by hybrid work: Offices are half-full on Mondays, busy Tuesdays through Thursdays and empty on Fridays. That has made it hard for companies to know whether to cut or keep a real estate footprint. 

Kastle Systems badge data shows that offices are about 60% full compared to pre-pandemic levels on Tuesday to Thursday, about 40% full on Monday and just a quarter full on Friday. 

Data from Scoop Technologies shows that Deutsche is an outlier in mandating that people come into the office on a Friday, Bloomberg reported. Only 6% of firms that specify days employees must come to a physical office make them come on Fridays. 

Deustche's mandate begins in June and mandates that managing directors come in four days a week and all other staff come in three days per week.