The World Bank is calling staff members back to the office after the July Fourth holiday in the United States, requiring employees at its headquarters in Washington to work at least two days per week from the flagship building.
The hybrid model will “strengthen client interactions and promote staff collaboration and learning, while keeping a focus on work-life balance, which is important for all of us,” bank leadership said in a note seen by Devex.
The International Monetary Fund will follow a similar path, a spokesperson said, adding that the institution was seeking flexibility while on a “phased path toward the resumption of in-person work.”
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How it will work: World Bank staff members will undergo COVID-19 testing every week, and those entering the building will have to be fully vaccinated. For months, the bank has used COVID-19 vaccine passes for employees entering the building on a voluntary basis.
“We know that as we go forward, we will need to continuously adapt to manage our working arrangements based on evolving health and safety situations,” leadership told staffers. The bank, which aims to encourage masking in group settings, says 98% of headquarters staff members are vaccinated.
Happy and not: Some employees and other officials are pleased by the return, particularly in the hybrid format, saying it will help with their work and social interactions. The cafeteria has been slowly getting busy and will again become a mingling hub, they said.
Others, though, said they have enjoyed the fully remote lifestyle and argued they were able to do their jobs well outside the office. In the note, bank leadership asked managers to work with staff members and take into consideration “personal situations.”
Lessons learned: One advantage of the remote system, staffers have said, was the leveling of relations, to some extent, between headquarters and country offices, as all meetings were online. Bank officials have told Devex in the past that they aim to learn from the experience when possible.
About the author
Shabtai Gold
Shabtai Gold is a Senior Reporter based in Washington. He covers multilateral development banks, with a focus on the World Bank, along with trends in development finance. Prior to Devex, he worked for the German Press Agency, dpa, for more than a decade, with stints in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, before relocating to Washington to cover politics and business.
