Workplace management

The bank is rethinking its plans for bringing back workers in Texas, Florida and other states where new coronavirus cases are surging.

Reading Cooperative Bank recently launched a program that aims to hire young Black and Hispanic adults from low-income communities. Its leaders say it’s part of a broad strategy to develop new pipelines of talent and better serve low-income communities.

The outbreak has completely upended whatever expectations the industry had heading into 2020. Here's key areas that have been shaped by the pandemic, some potentially forever.

Banks are beginning to emphasize soft skills to help employees make “human” connections with customers in an environment of reduced face-to-face contact.

Some of the industry’s biggest institutions intend to keep a significant portion of their staff working from home indefinitely. That’s raising new questions about organizational cultures and how to appropriately utilize credit union facilities.

Prior to the outbreak, members were banned from covering their faces inside branches for security reasons. Now institutions must devise ways to keep everyone healthy and safe.

Demand has soared for mental health services as bank employees put in long hours, supervise kids while working at home and endure personal crises. Citi, BofA, Fifth Third and others are getting creative to help them decompress during the pandemic.

With the pandemic fueling anxiety about public transportation and dense urban offices, financial firms in Manhattan are looking elsewhere for space to let workers spread out and avoid commuting into the city.

Some staff will be sitting at different desks, and in some cases different floors, when they return to work, according to the memo sent to employees Wednesday.

The memo from CEO Michael Corbat acknowledged the challenges many employees have faced working remotely during the coronavirus outbreak while taking care of family members and home-schooling their children.

Employees want to work for organizations that focus on a number of areas, such as diversity, flexibility and professional development. Credit unions that don't prioritize this beware.

The lender’s offices in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. will remain shut to all nonessential staff at least through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7, CEO Richard Fairbank wrote in an internal memo.

Credit unions moved quickly to reduce branch access as the coronavirus crisis worsened. The harder decision will be when and how to begin lifting those restrictions.

As the coronavirus outbreak starts to ebb in New York and pressure rises on the U.K. government to end London’s lockdown, the largest banks are grappling with how to adhere to social distancing rules.

Major national and international summer shows were all canceled within 24 hours of one another, and many smaller state-level events have already been called off or postponed.

Stress and exhaustion are catching up to lenders and call center employees helping customers grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite limiting branch access and embracing social distancing, member-facing employees at some institutions have contracted COVID-19, and those few could be the tip of the iceberg.

The industry still grapples with stopping corrupt employees — the failure of CBS Employee FCU last year highlights that — and now that could become even harder with the pandemic.

From paying $1,000 bonuses to branch employees to subsidizing child care expenses, banks are offering a slew of new perks for front-line employees still working and more paid leave for those who are ill or caring for sick family members.

As more states close schools and issue shelter-in-place directives, credit unions are increasingly shifting their staff to work-from-home arrangements.