Bank of Nova Scotia to require employees to work in office four days a week

Bank of Nova Scotia is requiring certain groups of employees to work in the office four days a week, making it the second major lender to tell staff they must work in-person more often.

The bank informed staff last week that the new rules will take effect by September. The move comes as large employers across Canada and other major financial markets ramp up office-work mandates.

For teams in Scotiabank offices with sufficient space, employees will work from the office four days a week. In cases where groups are restricted by limited real estate, staff will gradually increase their days in the office as more space becomes available.

Some teams may continue working on a remote basis, depending on the requirements of the roles.

“We know having our teams working together in-person has many benefits – greater collaboration, higher engagement, more career development opportunities, and a stronger culture and sense of belonging – and we are already seeing the positive impact this is having across the bank as we focus on executing on our strategy,” Scotiabank spokesperson Clancy Zeifman said in an e-mailed statement.

“We will continue to build on this impact as we bring our teams onsite more often, with the goal of reaching four days onsite across the bank over time.”

In late May, The Globe and Mail reported that Royal Bank of Canada was the first Canadian lender to tell staff to work from the office four days a week, starting in September.

Canada’s big banks are some of the county’s largest employers, with hundreds of thousands of staff across the six largest lenders. RBC’s move is a major milestone for companies aiming to increase the time employees spend in offices.

Some U.S. banks have aggressively ramped up their return-to-office mandates. This year, JPMorgan Chase – the country’s largest lender – started bringing staff into the office for a full five days a week.

RBC started ramping up mandatory days in the office in the spring of 2023, when the lender told employees to return at least three days a week. At the time, an internal memo said the bank’s long-term competitiveness was at risk without frequent in-person engagement.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced many employees to work from home, commercial real estate valuations fell as offices sat empty. While traffic in Toronto’s financial district has picked up from pandemic lows, office occupancy has yet to rebound.