Morgan Stanley’s boss speaks loudly when he returns to the office

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman sent a harsh message to New York employees who do not want to return to the office, arguing that if they are comfortable dining in the city, they should feel safe working at the headquarters. bench.

“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 said Monday at a financial services conference hosted by Morgan Stanley.

Gorman said the bank had not yet begun “dictating” that staff show up for work, unlike Goldman Sachs, which on Monday required its employees to return to the office. Gorman, however, said he had sent a “directionally very strong” message that he wanted workers in his 1585 Broadway building to return to their desks.

“[By] Labor Day, I’ll be very disappointed if people haven’t walked into the office and then we’ll have a different kind of conversation, ”Gorman added, referring to the U.S. holiday on September 6th.

Gorman he said the bank had learned it could operate “with a little more flexibility” during the coronavirus pandemic. But he noted that he would take a dim view of employees who did not work regularly in the office and especially those who wanted to do their job remotely from a place outside the state like Florida or Colorado.

“If you want to charge New York rates, work in New York,” he added.

In March last year, Gorman was diagnosed with the virus and had one total recovery. Since July 2020, he has been working and increasing the number of days he spends in the office.

“My leadership style has been very deliberate,” he said. “One day a week from July. . . I’m in four days now. “

However, employees located in areas with high infection rates, such as India, were not expected to report to the office, Gorman said.

He said returning to the office was particularly important for younger staff members who were training in the workplace. “[The office is] where we teach, where our interns learn. This is how we develop people. From where all the soft indications are constructed that entail to have a successful race and that are not only presentations of Zoom ”.

More than 90 percent of Morgan Stanley employees who already worked in its offices were now vaccinated, Gorman said, adding that he expected that proportion to rise to 98 percent. Recently, the bank partnered with a healthcare provider to offer vaccines at its offices.

Morgan Stanley has said disclosure of vaccine status would be voluntary, unlike Goldman Sachs has mandated let your employees reveal if they have had a punch.