Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, Noor Zainabhussain

(Reuters] – Wall Street banks did not change their U.S. plans for return-to work in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, however, they were monitoring the situation.

According to the World Health Organization, Omicron’s new COVID-19 variant is at “very high risk” of surges as more countries are reporting cases. It could be weeks before scientists are able to assess its severity.

On Friday, Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York, issued a COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration. She cited rising rates for infections, hospitalizations, and the potential threat from the variant.

Armed by aggressive vaccination campaigns and declining COVID-19 rates in financial hubs, banks have been pushing forward with plans for workers to return to the U.S., and other locations around the globe. However, this has taken place at various paces.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE :), JPMorgan Bank (NYSE 🙂 Morgan Stanley They have also been aggressive. JPMorgan and Goldman have seen the majority of workers return to their offices on a rotating basis since last summer.

James Gorman, Chief Executive of Morgan Stanley, had advocated for the workers’ return since summer. However, insiders claim that this stance has softened.

Other people, Wells Fargo (NYSE:), Citigroup Bank of America (NYSE 🙂 has taken a flexible position.

Wells Fargo has pushed back its return-to office plans to January 2022, while Citigroup employees working in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., have been working remotely at least 2 days per week since September 13.

Bank of America allowed its vaccinated workers to return to work in September and encouraged other staff members to do the same.

Spokespeople for six banks stated that their plans were not changing at the moment, while others added they would monitor the situation and follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A spokesperson for Wells Fargo stated in an email that they will “continue to follow the science just as we did from the beginning.” Safety of both our employees as well as our customers is our number one priority.”