MOSCOW, September 25. / TASS /. Sberbank is considering increasing the number of employees working from home if the pandemic worsens, head of Sberbank German Gref told reporters on Friday.
"As you can see, the mayor of Moscow has begun to take active measures that so far sound like requests. I received a letter from the mayor, we have decided to transfer 50% of our staff here in Moscow to remote work starting today. But we will keep an eye out, and if the situation worsens, then, quite possibly, we will increase the number of people who will work from home. Most likely, this situation will last until late spring, until May, maybe, "Gref said.
According to Sberbank's forecasts, a new peak of the coronavirus infection will be in November. Such estimates were voiced by the head of Sberbank.
"As for the coronavirus, it is obvious that there is already an increase in the number of cases, with the peak to be likely reached in the fall, most probably in November, according to our estimates. It may be difficult to predict today how long it will last. It will depend, among other, on the extent to which we will conscientiously follow the isolation rules and the rules of wearing protective gear," Gref said. Earlier, the banker said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper that he was counting on softer restrictive measures in the event of a second wave of the pandemic.
9,500 cases among Sberbank staff
About 9,500 thousand Sberbank employees, as of the end of September, have had the coronavirus, the head of the bank said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper on Friday.
"As of the end of September, quite a few - about 9,500 bank employees have had COVID-19," he said. Gref also recalled that Sberbank had made a decision that about 30% of staff would be able to switch to a mixed mode of work - both remote and office - after the epidemic.
On September 24, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin sent letters to large enterprises of the capital with a recommendation to partially transfer employees to remote work. These letters recall that organizations still need to observe the sanitary and epidemiological regime, which includes use of personal protective equipment and disinfectants and observation of social distance. In addition, employers need to take the temperature of their employees and conduct coronavirus testing.