BlackRock will require employees to work at least four days a week, the latest firm to cut back on a liberal work-from-home policy it imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The New York-based asset manager, which employs about 20,000 people in more than 30 countries, said employees will only be able to work from home one day a week starting Sept. 11, according to an internal memo.
“We encourage you to transition to this model over the next few months, as your schedule allows, by increasing the number of days you are on the job,” signed the statement by Chief Operating Officer Rob Goldstein and Head of Human Resources Caroline Heller the memo said.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with more than $9 trillion in assets under management, joined a growing corporate effort to get employees to spend more time in the office. JPMorgan announced in April that it would ask managing directors to return to the office five days a week.
The order will provide modest relief to owners of offices and adjacent businesses that have been impacted by working from home. New York City’s office occupancy rate remains just below 50% — about the same as the national average, according to a barometer produced by Kastle Systems, a company that operates security systems in many buildings.
Speaking to investors in February, Steven Roth, chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, one of New York’s largest office landlords, acknowledged the end of the five-day work week. “I think you can assume Friday is dead forever,” Ross said. Monday was a “trigger,” he added.
BlackRock’s order adds one day to its current requirement of working in the office three days a week. It said its new policy was designed to encourage collaboration and training. “Professional development occurs in teaching moments among team members and is accelerated in moments of market movement . . . all of which require us to be together in the office,” the memo said.
The company moved into its new headquarters in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards development in early 2023, and moved staff out of its old Midtown office in the first quarter of this year. It signed a lease for the unbuilt 970,000-square-foot space seven years ago.
“In our larger office and updated space, we feel the energy of coming together . . . This energy, and the horizontal collaboration it fosters, is what makes BlackRock so special,” the memo explain.
Employees will be expected to “consistently comply with . . . requirements” in the office four days a week. Employees will still be able to work remotely for two weeks a year during “relevant” times, such as summer.
BlackRock said: “When there is a fast-moving, high-profile client event, it makes a difference for our teams to come together to find solutions, seize opportunities and learn from each other.” . . See you in the office! “
Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin in New York