The coronavirus pandemic has yet to be completely eliminated despite the presence of a vaccine.

JPMorgan Chase, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, allowed its employees to work from home for the first two weeks of the year. However, the workers are expected to return to the office on February 1.

According to the company’s memo, this does not change long-term plans for working in the office. The bank said;

“With the increase in vacation travel and meetings, we are allowing more flexibility during the first two weeks of January to work from home (if your role allows) at your manager’s discretion.”

Another major bank in the United States, Citi, has allowed its employees to start the new year working from home. The bank wants its employees to work from home during the first weeks of 2022 as the country battles a surge in Omicron cases.

Citi told its employees in the New York office earlier this month that they could work from home if they could while on vacation. Major banks in the United States are becoming more flexible in their employment policies as the pandemic continues to affect various industries around the world.

Banks are encouraging their staff to return to work as soon as possible, although the option of working from home remains on the table. The United States, like many other advanced countries around the world, has battled coronavirus for two years.

The vaccine started to work, but the appearance of the Omicron variant made it difficult for some industries such as banking and aviation to fully resume operations. Regardless, most companies expect operations to fully resume in the coming months as the number of cases declines and the number of people vaccinated increases.