HSBC's new offices are coaxing hybrid workers into the office more frequently

By Steve Gelsi

The bank is keeping its hybrid policy in place, but more employees are choosing to commute to its new office building

HSBC Holdings PLC appears to have found a solution to the challenge of getting employees back into the office by offering its full-time staff a new skyscraper for their working hours.

London-based HSBC (HSBC) continues to keep its hybrid-work policy in place, but more employees are voluntarily coming into its New York City office, which houses about 2,400 of its 6,000 U.S. staff.

Michael Roberts, president and chief executive of HSBC North America Holdings Inc., said daily employee office attendance has roughly doubled to 80% from 40% since the move from its old office.

"This is a place where you want to be," said Roberts at an event Thursday that marked the grand opening of HSBC's new U.S. headquarters in the Spiral building at 66 Hudson Boulevard, a 66-floor, 1,031-foot skyscraper in the city's Hudson Yards development in Midtown Manhattan.

In February, the bank started moving out of its former U.S. headquarters on Fifth Ave., and on Thursday, it celebrated the new space with a host of dignitaries including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and HSBC Group Chairman Mark E. Tucker.

HSBC is occupying five floors in the building. The architect was Bjarke Ingels Group, with interior design by M Moser Associates.

It features outdoor terraces, hanging gardens wrapping around the building in a spiral shape, airy inside spaces for gathering, and open stairways that invite employee collaboration between floors.

Along with HSBC, other tenants include Pfizer Inc. (PFE), AllianceBernstein Holding L.P (AB) and corporate-law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, among others.

HSBC's traders and some investment bankers are required to be in the office five days a week, while many other HSBC employees are on a schedule that has them coming into the office two or three days a week.

Roberts said the bank had been trying to attract more employees back into the office since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move by HSBC comes as leasing volume in Manhattan dropped by about 25% in the first quarter from the previous quarter to 6.33 million square feet, according to Colliers, as many employees continue to work from home.

Available office supply in Manhattan has gone up by more than 80% since 2020 to 97.78 million square feet, Colliers said in a recent report.

Most of that increase came in 2020-2022, however. Since the first quarter of 2022, availability has grown by less than 5%.

-Steve Gelsi

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05-25-24 0630ET

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