Barclays has shifted some call centre operations from India to the UK, as India struggle to cope with the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
Barclays CEO Jes Staley said the bank employs around 20,000 people in India, many of which forced to stay at home to take care of their families as the health situation in the country worsens.
The flexibility shown by employees throughout the pandemic has led the company to reconsider how much office space is actually needed, as many rival banks have also implemented hybrid working.
Staley expects to see a hybrid working take place in the future since the review of the company’s offices has already begun.
For now, high street branches will remain as they were, however the pressure is inevitable as more customers continue to shift to online banking.
Commenting on the ongoing crisis in India, Staley said: "India is very important to the bank and there is extraordinary hardship going on there right now.
"We were very mindful that a number of employees need to stay home now, they’ve got family that are sick that they need to take care of. We are making payments, but allowing them to help their families manage through this pandemic. It’s a very tough place right now."
Staley said that Barclays has supported the efforts in the country via its charitable foundation and moved some work back to the UK.
He adds: "One of the shifts was on our call centre people in the UK, to help us with the burden that was experienced in India.
"They were taking more calls and working longer hours in trying to make sure that we were servicing our customers during the course of Covid-19.