Thread by @opinion

Credit Suisse's new vision for its employees’ work-life balance is the latest example of what’s becoming an all-too-common theme: large employers virtue signaling that they’re now all hip and flexible when it comes to how and where their people work trib.al/cXVlbF3

It’s clear that very few companies have actually committed to new ways of working that can be easily implemented or measured.

Many have pledged to offer more flexibility without specifying who can actually take advantage of it and how frequently trib.al/xrJOC5G

The danger is that the new flexible working rules might not be practical for many employees, and companies will have to backtrack on what has been interpreted as a commitment to lots of remote work.

That’s a breeding ground for intra-office dissent trib.al/xrJOC5G

Anyone who has spent time in a satellite office knows that much of the real action takes place in HQ.

If you remain a talking head in a Zoom room while others are showing up in person, best of luck earning that next promotion or pay rise trib.al/xrJOC5G

There is a lot to commend about a centralized office space — human interaction is what drives commerce.

Creativity, decision-making and innovation all spring from the happenstance as much as the scheduled meeting trib.al/xrJOC5G

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have chosen to keep it simple:

After July 4, employees are expected to return as before — on time and smartly dressed too trib.al/xrJOC5G

Standard Chartered was one of the first to move to a much more convoluted solution — allowing employees the choice of working from home or from the office, for whatever their preferred day(s) of the week.

There can be such a thing as too much choice trib.al/xrJOC5G

You have to spare a thought for the middle-manager class.

It is one thing for those on high to waft indulgences; it’s quite another for line managers responsible for making sure work gets done and teams hang together trib.al/xrJOC5G

But some new flexible approaches are smart and could even end up being more productive.

Citigroup's new CEO is offering Zoom-free Fridays and other reasonable flexible working options. This kind of tempered approach might actually stick trib.al/xrJOC5G

How quickly will employers adapt and change? And what will the costs of those changes be?

Few will be lucky enough to avoid a commute altogether, but in a curious way, that cold, dark, windswept train platform in February has its charms too trib.al/xrJOC5G