Germany’s banks start ditching office space as remote work soars

As the pandemic continues to linger in many nations and remote working becomes a more popular trend across Europe, banking institutions across Germany are embracing the change and cutting back on office spaces.

Deutsche Bank AG, which used to house over 1,000 employees in a huge multi-level building, is now moving out of a lot of the floors, as most of its employees now work from the comfort of their home.

In a similar move, HSBC Germany has also announced it will be vacating six different offices and moving its workforce into a single building with less than 50% of the capacity of the previous offices.

BNP Paribas’s Frankfurt operation is slashing workspace capacity by about 40%, while other lenders in the region, including DZ Bank AG and BayernLB are looking at adopting the same measures.

Lenders in Germany are welcoming this new trend at a faster pace than their peers in Europe, maximizing the opportunity it presents to cut costs. The pandemic has forced many corporations to assess the positive impact of more flexible working policies on operational costs.