French bank employees complain they're being worked like Americans for lower pay

SocGen has had a change of heart. After allowing many of its employees to work from home two days a week, it's decided that one day a week at home is now preferable. 

Bloomberg reported that Slawomir Krupa, the French bank's CEO sent a memo on the subject yesterday. Krupa, who is not always popular at SocGen due to his program of job cuts, sent a densely worded missive talking of the 'executive committee’s decision to harmonize rapidly our working from home policy within the group, on the basis of a maximum of one day per week," and the need to develop a "performance culture" through "knowledge sharing" and informal interactions. 

American banks have done much the same. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have people in the office five days each week and their CEOs have spoken equally enthusiastically of collaboration and teamwork. However, SocGen insiders say it's not the same. 

Crucially, American banks pay a lot more than French banks. Figures aren't available for the rank and file, but the 338 material risk-takers in SocGen's investment bank earned an average of €1m ($1.2m) each last year. At JPMorgan in London, the material risk-takers earned $1.8m each. 

Insiders at the French bank are not happy. "Who in their right mind would work in a second tier bank with US level office requirements," opines one. "Is this a ploy to get people to leave on the cheap?"

The message board run by SocGen's union representative is full of people equally opposed to the new requirements. There are complaints about the "brutality" of the move, of institutional harassment, of the chaos it will create for employees' private lives. "Completely devastated by this brutal and violent news," says one typical post, adding that there are insufficient parking and canteen spaces for everyone to be in the office anyway.

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