Summary
Six years after the pandemic emptied Manhattan’s office towers, Wall Street’s biggest names are taking a firm stance on returning to the office. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs expect most employees back to in-office work five days a week, and their CEOs have made it clear that these policies aren’t up for debate.
But the rest of the financial services industry isn’t following the same playbook. Many firms continue to run hybrid work models of some kind, while others have made exceptions to their return-to-office requirements. As policies evolve, leaders are weighing corporate culture, employee sentiment, talent retention, and real estate costs.
For workplace and real estate leaders evaluating their own policies, the headlines don’t tell the whole story. This article examines how the Wall Street return to office push is evolving and what those decisions mean for financial services space planning.
The Strict-Mandate Headlines
JPMorgan Chase made the biggest splash. In January 2025, the firm told staff to return to the office five days a week, with the requirement taking effect that March. The firm framed the office return as a way to strengthen collaboration, training, and in-person supervision. According to HR Grapevine, about 70% of employees were already in the office full time, so the change mainly affected the roughly 30% on hybrid schedules. The RTO push still met resistance: a petition opposing the policy drew just over 2,000 signatures from a global workforce of more than 300,000.
Goldman Sachs has pushed for full-time attendance even longer. CEO David Solomon famously called remote work “an aberration that we’re going to correct as quickly as possible,” and the firm has kept a five-day expectation in place.
Fidelity Investments joined the group in 2026. In May, Allwork reported that Fidelity would end its hybrid policy for about 21,200 employees at sites in Boston, Merrimack, Covington, and Albuquerque, moving to five days in the office starting in September. Phone-based customer service roles were excluded. The company pointed to the importance of mentorship, collaboration, and learning as reasons for asking employees to resume in-person work.
The Quiet Recalibration
Even the strictest firms bend when circumstances demand it. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which ran through July 19 across 11 U.S. host cities, both Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan allowed employees to request remote work on match days, according to internal memos reported by the Financial Times. Fortune noted that the exception marked a departure from Goldman’s stated position.
That was a temporary carve-out, not a policy change. But it is a useful example of how even five-day mandates come with practical limits, and how quickly employers adjust when office attendance becomes impractical.
For the rest of the industry, hybrid never went away. According to BuildRemote’s tracker of financial services RTO policies (updated April 2026), Morgan Stanley requires four days a week, while Citi, Wells Fargo, and Capital One require three. Of the 25 financial services companies in the tracker’s public preview, 19 run hybrid policies, four are office-first, and two are remote-first. Among the companies that publish a required number, the average lands at about 3.1 days a week. And in June 2026, a person familiar with Citi’s policy told Fast Company that “a majority of Citi employees work in hybrid roles.”
Strict mandates get the attention. Across the broader financial services return to office landscape, they remain the exception.
Why the Inconsistency
Talent competition. Financial firms compete for the technologists, quants, data scientists, and specialized advisors who drive innovation, and those people have flexible options elsewhere, including at fintechs and tech companies. In a Deloitte survey of 700 senior U.S. financial services professionals, about two-thirds of hybrid workers said they would likely quit if required to be in the office five days a week, as reported by the World Economic Forum in 2023. Around 35% said they could leave within the next year for more flexibility, nearly the same share as those who would leave for better pay or benefits. That data predates the latest round of mandates, but it helps explain why many firms tread carefully: for many workers, flexibility and work-life balance carry as much weight as compensation.
Different real estate realities. A firm that just opened a flagship headquarters has strong business reasons to fill it. JPMorgan recently opened a $3 billion headquarters on Park Avenue and is investing in a new Canary Wharf complex in London. A firm with older leases across multiple office locations may see hybrid work as a chance to consolidate and cut spending. Same industry, different math.
Different work. Client coverage, compliance, and training-heavy junior roles benefit from in-person work in ways that some back-office operations and technology departments may not. For firms that set policy by role, hybrid tends to make the most sense. Firms that set it firm-wide, as a statement of culture, tend to land on five days.
What This Means for Financial Services Real Estate Planning
Plan for policy to change. The past five years have shown that RTO policies shift with leadership, markets, and talent conditions. A footprint sized precisely for today’s mandate can be wrong in 18 months. Treat it as risk management: build flexibility into the plan with flexible seating pools, convertible spaces, meeting rooms that can change use, and lease terms that allow adjustment.
Measure what the policy actually produces. In practice, a five-day mandate doesn’t guarantee five-day attendance, and a three-day policy doesn’t guarantee that many employees come in on the same three days. Real attendance and presence data offers valuable insights into whether a policy is working, and where the office runs short or sits empty.
Use data to make the internal case. Whether a firm is tightening its policy to boost productivity or loosening it to protect talent, leadership will ask what the change means for space, money, and employee experience. Utilization data can inform that debate and turn it into a decision grounded in how the office actually gets used.
Nelnet, a financial services company, took this approach when planning its return. With Maptician, the team gained real-time visibility into badge-ins and occupancy through access control integration, tracked attendance, aligned seating policies, and built a phased return-to-office plan around real data.
“Maptician has been instrumental in helping us rethink how we use our office space.”
— Terry Heimes, Chief Operating Officer, Nelnet
How Maptician Supports Financial Services Firms Through Policy Shifts
Policies change faster than leases. Maptician gives financial services firms and their managers the data to see whether a policy is working today and the tools to plan for whatever comes next.
See Who’s Actually In. Presence shows who’s in the office, where they’re sitting, and when they arrive.
Track Attendance by Team. Break down usage by location, team, or floor to see whether a policy holds across the organization.
Model What Comes Next. Scenario planning lets teams test seating changes on live floor plans before a policy shift takes effect.
Flex the Floor Plan. Mix assigned desks and flexible pools, and let employees book desks as needed, so the office can adapt as expectations change.
Report With Confidence. Workplace Analytics delivers real-time and historical data, backed by secure, SOC 2 and ISO certified hosting and audit-ready reporting.
Learn more about how Maptician helps financial services firms manage return-to-office strategies.
Plan for the Policy You Have and the One You Might Have Next
Wall Street’s RTO story isn’t one story. It’s a handful of high-profile mandates, a long list of hybrid firms, and a steady stream of exceptions and adjustments. The firms best positioned for success are the ones focused on how their offices actually get used, today and over time.
See How Maptician Supports RTO Planning: Request a Demo
FAQs
Are all Wall Street firms requiring 5 days in office?
No. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs require five days for most employees, and Fidelity moved to five days in 2026. Many other large firms run hybrid policies, including Citi, Wells Fargo, and Capital One at three days and Morgan Stanley at four, according to BuildRemote’s April 2026 tracker.
Why are some financial firms softening their RTO mandates?
Practical disruptions, like the 2026 World Cup, have pushed even strict firms to allow temporary exceptions. Over the longer term, competition for specialized talent and the cost of attrition keep many firms on hybrid schedules.
How does RTO policy affect financial services real estate planning?
Policy sets the expected demand for space, but real attendance determines what firms actually need. Since policies change, the key is flexible seating, scenario planning, and ongoing utilization data rather than a footprint sized for a single mandate.
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