Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

DBS to allow employees to work from home up to 40 per cent of the time

DBS to allow employees to work from home up to 40 per cent of the time

Four out of five of DBS’s employees said they were able to work seamlessly remotely, the bank said.

DBS, Singapore’s biggest bank, said it would allow all of its employees to work from home up to 40 per cent of the time as it became the latest bank to reconsider its staffing model in light of its experience during the coronavirus pandemic.

Following a six-month examination by an internal task force, Piyush Gupta, DBS’s chief executive, said the lender would “radically transform” its structure by adopting a hybrid working model that allows employees to work remotely or in the office, creating more flexible work arrangements through job sharing and retraining 7,200 employees in data analytics, artificial intelligence and other emerging areas of technology.

“As the way we live, bank and work continues to change dramatically, we must address the magnitude of the disruptions before us,” Gupta said in a news release on Tuesday. “We will also accelerate our employee upskilling agenda at scale and ingrain the use of data-driven operating models across the bank. By implementing these measures, we believe that Team DBS will emerge as a confident future-ready workforce.”

DBS said four out of five of its 29,000 employees indicated they were able to work seamlessly remotely. However, the bank opted for a hybrid approach after employees indicated staying engaged and connecting with colleagues was challenging.

It was not immediately clear how the shift would affect the bank’s staffing structure in Hong Kong.

Under DBS’s job sharing scheme, two employees would share responsibilities for one full-time role. Those employees would retain existing medical benefits and be covered by the bank’s insurance plans.

DBS also said it would reconfigure workspaces for more collaboration between employees and accelerate a transition to a more project-specific operating model using teams from different function areas.

The move by DBS comes after Standard Chartered said this month it would allow employees in nine markets, including Hong Kong, to apply for formal flexi-working arrangements. That could include time split between Standard Chartered’s offices, at home or co-working facilities.


Piyush Gupta, DBS’s chief executive, said the company would “radically transform” its staffing structure with more flexible working arrangements.


“We are excited about the future as we step into a new era for the bank and the positive impact we can make on our productivity, well-being and carbon footprint,” Tanuj Kapilashrami, Standard Chartered’s group head of human resources, said in a November 6 statement. “We also see this as an opportunity to appeal to a wider and more diverse potential future workforce.”

HSBC chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson said last month that the bank was considering more ways to digitise its operations and have more staff members work from home in the future. Stevenson told Bloomberg Television that could include employees working remotely two to three days a week.

Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase chief executive, said in October that up to 30 per cent of the bank’s staff could work from home permanently in the future.

The coronavirus pandemic forced global lenders to reconfigure their systems and rapidly adopt remote working as much as 90 per cent of their employees were forced into lockdown in some markets.


Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters.


The world’s largest work-from-home experiment ever has leaders at global banks rethinking everything from travel to office space as they look for ways to trim costs against the backdrop of historically low interest rates, which are cutting into their bottom lines.

The re-examination of how banks staff could cut into demand for Hong Kong’s prime office space, as financial companies are some of the biggest commercial renters in the city, according to market observers.

“Our intention at Standard Chartered is to imagine the future and move there quickly, rather than resist, resist and resist,” Bill Winters, the Standard Chartered CEO, said during a presentation at Hong Kong’s Fintech Week on November 4. “The space that you use has to be heavily invested in collaboration space.

Going forward when I come into the office – any office – it’s going to be to collaborate. It’s not going to be to sit in my office alone with me and my laptop, clicking away and doing video conferences. That I can do from home, the hotel or some other office.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
×