Dive Brief:

• Truist is requiring all of its employees to work in-office five days per week beginning in January. 
• “Truist is committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation and client-focused excellence,” the bank said in a statement Wednesday. “Starting Jan. 5, 2026, teammates with hybrid work arrangements will move to onsite work five days a week. This decision reflects our belief that in-person teamwork drives stronger results for our clients, teammates and stakeholders.”
• The $544 billion-asset bank has gradually tightened its in-office policy for employees: Last year, its investment bankers were told to work from the office every weekday, up from four days, while other employees were required to work in-office four days per week, up from three. 

Dive Insight:

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist becomes the latest large bank calling workers back to the office more frequently, more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic prompted widespread remote work. 

JPMorgan Chase ordered employees companywide to return to the office five days per week in March. More than half of the bank’s 310,000 employees had already been doing so as of January, and CEO Jamie Dimon has been a staunch advocate of in-office work. 

Even so, banks have been keen to underscore that they offer their employees “flexibility” – JPMorgan highlighted that, as did Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently. 

“We have to give them flexibility. We did that before COVID. We do that now,” Solomon said Oct. 30 at The Economic Club in Washington, D.C. 

However, Solomon also stressed the need for environments where “people are spending time with people, where people are spending time with clients.” Goldman also requires workers to be in office each weekday.

“Zoom’s an unbelievable tool, but it’s a tool,” Solomon said. “It’s not a mode of operating successfully at the competitive level we want to operate at.”

Last year, Citi, U.S. Bank, Deutsche Bank and Barclays were among those that upped the number of days employees needed to be in office. Citi this year, however, gave hybrid employees their choice of two weeks in August during which they could work remotely – specifically picking a quieter time for its businesses and bank clients.

BNY called employees back to the office four days a week this year, but said it has no plans to return to five days in office “unless circumstances were to demand otherwise.” 

Canada’s largest banks, too, boosted on-site requirements this year. Royal Bank of Canada, for example, required its hybrid employees to return to the office four days a week starting in September. 

TD, meanwhile, asked its executive-level employees to work from the office four days a week beginning in October, with non-executive employees expected to follow this month. BMO and Scotiabank each set Sept. 15 deadlines for employees to return four days a week, depending on location and capacity.

Truist had about 38,500 employees as of Sept. 30.