- Centerview Partners is back to a “primarily in-office experience,” exec Blair Effron told Insider.
- It’s embracing the benefits of in-person work after reopening on June 14 while allowing flexibility.
- JPMorgan’s and Goldman Sachs’ CEOs have criticized remote work.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
For employees at Centerview Partners in New York, work once again centers on the firm’s office on West 52nd Street.
Centerview has been “fully and formally back to work” for nearly three weeks, since it reopened its offices on June 14, co-founder and partner Blair Effron told Insider in an interview. The boutique investment bank is embracing a “primarily in-office experience” that’s essential to training junior bankers and developing relationships and collaborating throughout the firm, Effron said.
“Like anyone else, we became very good at being remote. But I’ve heard the words ‘efficient’ and ‘productive’ thrown around too often, to the point where it sounds like you’re talking about a factory rather than a people-oriented business,” he said. “It’s not just about that — it’s about the quality of the experience.”
While working remotely, Effron said, it was challenging to figure out who was working which hours and on which projects. Being together is the best way for everyone to keep track, he said.
The firm is far from alone in having people come back in. The leaders of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, which reopened their offices in May and June, have been vocal about the downsides of remote work and their desire to return to the office as soon as possible.
In New York, Centerview’s junior bankers have been “highly enthusiastic” about being back, Effron said, adding that heading into the office regularly is beneficial because it separates employees’ work environment from their nonwork lives.
Even so, Centerview stopped short of implementing a hybrid model requiring employees to come in on certain days or commit to a set schedule. Instead, it’s keeping the door open for flexibility. Effron said he was encouraging employees to relocate to home when work spills into the evening and to adjust their schedules accordingly.
“We want to see you in the office, but that doesn’t mean I want you punching the clock,” he said. “We don’t want to impose rules, because we think our people are motivated enough to regulate where they spend their time effectively.”
Across Wall Street, banks, private-equity firms, and hedge funds are grappling with how big of a role — if any — remote work should have in a post-pandemic world. Morgan Stanley is also gearing up for a full return to the office in September. “If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office,” CEO James Gorman told staffers last month. “We want you in the office.”
The private-equity firm Blackstone told staffers to report back to the office on June 7.
Citigroup, on the other hand, is embracing more of a hybrid work model indefinitely. Various boutiques, like Lazard and Perella Weinberg, have also committed to flexibility in returning to the office, Bloomberg has reported.
Jefferies, which this spring gave hardworking bankers Peloton bikes and other perks, aims to give employees as much flexibility as possible with remote work. In an email sent to staffers last week and viewed by Insider, CEO Richard Handler said the firm would cut back on some business travel and had reconfigured some of its offices to accommodate a hybrid work model.
“We don’t need to give ultimatums to the people who have gotten us through the hardest period we have experienced in our careers,” Handler wrote. “Our offices will be our meeting places and our homes will continue as additional offices.”
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