DBS Group, Singapore’s biggest bank, is planning to cut down on office space in Singapore to reduce the footprint in the city-state during the pandemic.
The bank plans to give up two and half floors in Tower 3 of the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), according to an inside source. The lender has more than a dozen floors in the building which is located in the central business district.
DBS is planning to vacate the floors in December, the information still being unofficial. The company representative has declined to comment on the matter.
Among other plans on cutting down office space, the company is also considering reducing office space in the pricey Hong Kong market. As banks around the world are reevaluating the use of offices, the current health crisis has made it obvious that financial firms still can operate effectively with the majority of employees working from home.
HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, is transferring more than 1,200 staff at its UK call centre to permanent remote work.
Following the footsteps of Citigroup and Mizuho Financial Group, DBS is giving up office space in favour of more successful remote work.
DBS is the anchor tenant at MBFC Tower 3, one of the three-tower complex managed by Raffles Quay Asset Management. It is also their headquarters, besides another location in Changi Business Park.
The bank has been promoting work flexibility while also accentuating the benefits of office life. In November it announced the employees would be allowed to work remotely 40 per cent of the time, however, last month their Chief executive, Piyush Gupta said the staff will sometimes need to be in the office to “build the soul of the company”.
Transitioning to remote work may not be a significant setback for the Singapore office market since tech enterprises have been expanding their presence in the South-East Asian hub.
Amazon will be taking up the three floors after Citigroup’s leave, while ByteDance is set to occupy three floors in a building in the financial district.
