Barclays Bank has announced more stringent hybrid working requirements by requesting that most of its 85,000 employees come into the office for an additional day a week, according to a memo sent to staff on Tuesday.

Those who have seen the memo have reported that bank has raised its minimum office attendance requirement to three days a week, up from two days a week.

It is thought that most of the bank’s client-facing employees, including investment bankers, have already been coming in for five days a week.

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A spokesperson for Barclays said: “At Barclays, we recognise the benefits of balancing flexibility for colleagues with the importance of working together to collaborate in our physical locations. Our minimum time in office requirements vary between business areas depending on the nature of work and needs of the business.”

Earlier this month JPMorgan staff had been told they were to be required to return to the office five days a week from March, but the finance sector in Europe has generally been more relaxed about hybrid working than in the US, where Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon has labelled working from home as “an aberration”.

Lloyds Banking Group said earlier this year that it would take into account the office attendance of senior executives when awarding their bonuses as it sought to encourage them to set an example for junior staff.

British advertising group WPP also told its more than 100,000-person workforce this month that they will need to return to work in an office at least four days a week – a move that has caused significant push-back from staff.

Chief executive of Nationwide, Debbie Crosbie, has said women could be missing out on career opportunities if they only work from home. Prominent businessman Stuart Rose, former head of M&S and Asda has said working from home was “not doing proper work”.

Other UK companies that are tightening rules around working from home include PwC, Santander and Asda.

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