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Moneyweb reports that Nedbank has cut the amount of office space it utilises across SA and the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region by more than half since 2016 as it moved to ‘consolidate’ and ‘standardise’ its own buildings.
It has reduced 52% of its office space in the last seven-and-a-half years. Most corporate staff use ‘hot desks’ in open plan areas, and its shift to a hybrid work-from-home model in 2020 and 2021 helped drive the reduction. It also has remote working arrangements in place for certain staff across the bank. Only 60% of its staff will be on campus on any given day. This means it has a desk ‘utilisation’ rate of well over 100%. Nedbank hasn’t only reduced office space. It has cut approximately one third of branch floor space since 2020. Currently, four of every five branches are digitally and sales-focused. This will be rolled out to all branches in the next two years. Nedbank says that “by the end of 2025, 57% of branches will be smaller than 200 m², which is a significant shift from our current branch mix”. It currently has 549 retail outlets. The decrease in floor space overall has to be seen in the context of an ‘only’ 9% reduction in the number of employees across the group since 2020 (it now has just under 26,000, which includes nearly 300 ‘new’ staff as part of the acquisition of Eqstra). This means it is using its space far more efficiently than ever.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Moneyweb
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