Morgan Stanley warns New York employees to return to office by fall

American
investment banking firm Morgan Stanley has issued a warning among its New York
employees, asking them to return to offices this fall. Earlier this week, chief
executive James Gorman said at an investing conference that the company’s employees
in New York City should start returning to office, saying that more people are receiving their
vaccines and life is slowly starting to return to normal.

“If you can
go to a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office. And we want
you in the office,” Gorman was quoted as saying by CNN.

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His
comments came at an annual conference on financial payments and commercial
real estate on Monday. He said that some employees are already coming to office
at the bank’s headquarters at 1585 Broadway in Times Square at least twice a
week.

However, he
said that by the end of the summer, most employees will need to take the
subways again and come to office more frequently, adding that people shouldn’t
expect to continue receiving their New York salaries if they work remotely.

“By Labor
Day, I’ll be very disappointed if people haven’t found their way into the
office and then we’ll have a different kind of conversation,” he said. “If you
want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York. None of this ‘I’m in
Colorado, and getting paid like I’m sitting in New York City.’ Sorry. That
doesn’t work.”

The
62-year-old also said the company will also be open to dividing work time between
office and at home. He also hopes that most employees returning to offices will
be vaccinated by the time they are required to return to office, saying over
90% have already received their shots.

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He also accepted that some employees
may not be vaccinated because of health or religious grunds, and that the company
will deal with that. He also said that the firm’s over 10,000 employees in
India will not be returning to office anytime soon.

“They’re not coming back to work. That’s
not a 2021 issue.”

“I don’t think making a blanket
statement to all employees is helpful. I don’t think speaking to employees who
work at 1585 Broadway in Times Square is the same as speaking to a small office
in Topeka,” he added.