World Bank Group employees will be required to go into the office four days a week starting in September, according to an email obtained by Devex detailing a new hybrid back-to-work policy, a move the staff association called “deeply troubling.”
World Bank leadership says that returning to the office and working in person will help improve efficiency, urgency, and creativity at a critical moment for the lender as it undergoes reforms. But the staff association said the new policy is “unacceptable in its current form” in a statement published Friday.
The new policy has “flexibility built in at the core” and staff will not need management approval for which day to remain at home, or to determine an hourly schedule when they come into the office, according to the email from Diariétou Gaye, the World Bank Group’s vice president for people and culture. The World Bank confirmed the contents of the email.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
