Bradesco will adopt work-from-home for part of its team even after the pandemic.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Bradesco plans to have its employees work from home for an average of one week per month on a permanent basis, with the goal of saving on rent and selling some properties, said Octavio de Lazari Junior, the bank's president, in an interview.

Bradesco's remote work plans for its nearly 97 employees are the latest example of how the coronavirus pandemic is causing large companies to rethink their real estate assets and redefine the workplace.

“Full-time remote work isn’t productive because people need to exchange ideas and understand the bank’s culture,” said Lazari, explaining the balance between working from home and in the office. “We also had to take into account that Brazilians have different realities. Not everyone can fulfill a full-time work schedule at home; sometimes they live with four or five other people.”

Bradesco estimates that the new employee turnover will allow the bank to raise between 600 million and 800 million reais from the sale of real estate assets and generate annual savings of 100 million reais in rent.

Currently, 94% of Bradesco's administrative staff and half of the branch employees are working from home due to the pandemic. Lazari himself said that he now only works at the bank's headquarters on Mondays.

He said he expects most of the workforce to begin gradually returning to offices in September or October, depending on the evolution of the virus in Brazil, currently the second worst in the world after the United States.

The bank purchased half a million coronavirus tests for its employees. Eliminating fixed desks for employees will allow for flexible use of the remaining office space throughout the month.

The amount of time an employee spends in the office will depend on their role. Telemarketing agents, for example, may spend more than a week a month working from home, while an IT team working on a large project may spend more time in the office.

The implementation of remote work is part of broader plans to cut costs by 5% to 7% starting next year, Lazari said. This includes reducing the number of security guards at branches and saving on cash transport in armored trucks, among other things.

Bradesco will renovate approximately 700 of its more than 4.100 bank branches this year, aiming to focus more on generating business, such as selling products and services, rather than on transactions like bill payments and money transfers. More branches will be renovated over the next two years.

Lazari said that this reform will reduce costs per branch, as it will require less space, security guards, and armored cars to transport banknotes, since the units will focus more on closing deals. When announcing its second-quarter results the previous day, Bradesco announced it will close more than 400 branches this year.