Bank Employees Resign After Executive Demands Return to Offices Without Space for Everyone

Slashdot reader Bruce66423 shared this report from the Guardian:

Staff have resigned at Starling Bank after its new chief executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more frequently, despite lacking enough space to host them.

In his first major policy change since taking over from the UK digital bank's founder, Anne Boden, in March, Raman Bhatia has ordered all hybrid staff — many of whom were in the office only one or two days a week, or on an ad-hoc basis — to travel to work for a minimum of 10 days each month. But the bank, which operates online only, admitted that some of its offices would not be equipped to handle the influx... 'We are considering ways in which we can create more space,' an email sent by Starling's human resources team and seen by the Guardian said.

Starling has 3,231 staff, the vast majority of whom are in the UK with some also in Dublin. However, the Guardian understands that the bank has only about 900 desks, including 260 at its Cardiff site, 320 in its London headquarters and 155 in Southampton. The bank has a further 160 desks in its newest site in Manchester, where it has signed a 10-year lease to occupy the fifth floor of the Landmark building, which also houses Santander UK and HSBC staff... Some staff have already resigned over the 'rushed' announcement, while others have threatened to do so...

The return to office announcement came a month after the Financial Conduct Authority hit Starling with a £29m fine after discovering 'shockingly lax' controls that it said left the financial system 'wide open to criminals'. That included failures in its automated screening system for individuals facing government sanctions.
Starling Bank issued this statement to explain its reasoning. 'By bringing colleagues together in person, our aim is to achieve greater collaboration that will benefit our customers as we enter Starling's next phase of growth.'

The article also notes that the U.K. supermarket chain Asda 'has also toughened its stance, making it compulsory for thousands of workers at its offices in Leeds and Leicester to spend at least three days a week at their desks from the new year.'

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