Atom銀行放棄達勒姆總部，執行長馬克·馬倫指責競爭對手對在家工作“情緒化”

Atom 銀行將成為最新一家放棄辦公室的銀行，因為太多員工在家工作。

Atom Bank will become the latest lender to abandon its offices because so many employees are working from home.

Atom 銀行將成為最新一家放棄辦公室的銀行，因為太多員工在家工作。

Chief executive Mark Mullen said attendance at the app-based bank’s headquarters in Durham is only at a third of previous levels and it will look for a new location in the North East of England.

執行長馬克馬倫 (Mark Mullen) 表示，這家基於應用程式的銀行位於達勒姆 (Durham) 總部的出席人數僅為之前的三分之一，並將在英格蘭東北部尋找新地點。

The plan to move follows the decisions by larger rivals HSBC, Lloyds and TSB to switch offices or reduce space because of flexible working.

這項搬遷計畫是在大型競爭對手匯豐銀行、勞埃德銀行和 TSB 因靈活工作而決定更換辦公室或減少空間之後做出的。

But Mullen is not concerned by the trend, unlike some rival bosses, and accuses those who oppose working from home of being ‘emotional’.

但與一些競爭對手的老闆不同，馬倫並不擔心這一趨勢，並指責那些反對在家工作的人「情緒化」。

He said that while he enjoys being in the office, it is ‘not reasonable’ to expect younger employees to have to do so and that his focus was on building an efficient business wherever they are based. Atom has also, since 2021, allowed employees to work just four days a week.

他表示，雖然他喜歡在辦公室工作，但要求年輕員工這樣做是“不合理的”，他的重點是在任何地方建立高效的業務。自 2021 年以來，Atom 還允許員工每週只工作四天。

Mullen told the Mail: ‘We occupy about one third of the space that we used to occupy in the office so we have reduced the lease agreements that we have with our landlords. We’ve adapted to that because the usage is much less.

馬倫告訴《每日郵報》：「我們佔用的辦公室空間約為過去的三分之一，因此我們減少了與房東簽訂的租賃協議。我們已經適應了這一點，因為使用量少得多。

‘We’re looking at moving to a new headquarters next year – it’ll definitely be in the North East but we’ll make a decision about which city in due course.’

“我們正在考慮明年搬到新總部——肯定會在東北部，但我們會在適當的時候決定在哪個城市。”

Atom Bank employs around 500 staff, with a London office as well as its Durham base.

Atom Bank 擁有約 500 名員工，在倫敦設有辦事處以及達勒姆基地。

Working from home means some staff are based as far away as Inverness in the north of Scotland or in the south of England, Mullen said, though most are in the North East – around Durham or Newcastle.

馬倫說，在家工作意味著一些員工遠至蘇格蘭北部的因弗內斯或英格蘭南部，但大多數都在東北部的達勒姆或紐卡斯爾附近。

He admitted that not being in the office made it harder to see how productive employees are – and employers’ systems need to be updated to find out.

他承認，不在辦公室就更難了解員工的工作效率，而雇主的系統需要更新才能找到答案。

But he said conversations among senior executives and leaders in the industry suggested they ‘don’t feel comfortable’ about staff working from home, and that ‘creativity is being hindered’.

但他表示，行業高管和領導者之間的對話表明，他們對員工在家工作“感到不舒服”，並且“創造力受到阻礙”。

Mullen, however, said: ‘But it’s more about emotions and feeling than it is about facts. I like coming to the office.

然而，馬倫說：“但這更多的是情感和感覺，而不是事實。”我喜歡來辦公室。

‘I’m 35 years working – my heritage in working goes back well before the internet. It’s not reasonable that my paradigm should work for somebody who’s a digital native.’

「我已經工作了 35 年——我的工作傳統可以追溯到網路出現之前。我的範式適用於數位原住民，這是不合理的。

Atom last week reported an operating profit of £27million for the year to the end of March, up from £4million.

Atom 上週公佈截至 3 月底的全年營業利潤為 2,700 萬英鎊，高於 400 萬英鎊。