Truist Bank says time’s up for remote work

CHARLOTTE — Many employees at Truist Bank are saying goodbye to pandemic remote work for good.

The company sent a notice to employees last week saying office-based and hybrid positions will need to return to the office by the end of the month.

Several employees spoke to Channel 9 and said they were caught off guard by the announcement. They asked to remain anonymous to protect their jobs.

“They were in tears,” one employee told Channel 9′s Madison Carter. “People were crying on the phone because telling us that we got to come back to the office three days a week, that’s an added burden. For those people that have kids, you have to restructure your child care.”

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A spokesperson for Truist told Channel 9 that the company will work with employees, and it has assistance programs to address child care and financial concerns for commuters.

The company sent Channel 9 the following statement: “As we return to a normal, post-pandemic working environment, we believe we do our best work when we have the ability to collaborate in-person. In alignment with our purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities, we’ve increased our focus on intentional flexibility since the beginning of the pandemic to support the personal and professional needs of our teammates. Our mission for teammates is to create an inclusive, energizing environment to help foster meaningful careers, and we provide a best-in-class total rewards program and highly-competitive benefits like an industry-leading minimum wage, elder and child care assistance, tuition assistance, career development programs, hybrid workstyles for most teammates, generous paid vacation, days off for well-being and volunteerism, mental health support, maternity/paternity leave, adoption benefits, and a student debt program.

Our new return-to-office policy was designed around our intentional flexibility philosophy, and formalizes the guidance announced in November 2022 that hybrid teammates return to the office. We greatly value the feedback of our teammates, and we’re actively working to raise awareness of the numerous resources available to our teammates for important benefits like child care, parking assistance, commuter benefits and more.”

Truist Center is the main office in Uptown Charlotte, located at the corner of Tryon and 5th streets.

(WATCH: Truist adds more Charlotte-area branches to list of looming closures)