American Express employees that are able to work from home should continue to do so for the rest of the year, chief executive Steve Squeri said in a video message on LinkedIn as he spoke about a return-to-office plan.
"We still don't know exactly when we'll start coming back. We expect it will take several months in most locations. The key here is that returning to location will not happen all at once," he said in an almost five-minute long video.
Mr Squeri said the company would open buildings on a "location by location, floor by floor and colleague by colleague basis", with the work environment expected to be "completely different" from what it was before the outbreak.
"If you can work from home effectively, you should plan on doing this for the rest of the year," he said, adding that Amex's offices in the near term will mostly serve as an alternative workspace.
Amex employees that need to work from office will return in phases, starting with 10 per cent occupancy, and no likelihood of it reaching close to 50 per cent this year.
Mr Squeri said employees returning to offices would not be allowed to hold meetings in conference rooms. Rules would also bar visitors and access to cafeterias, in addition to other social distancing measures and temperature screening.
As the virus outbreak hit business volumes, Amex moved from a largely brick-and-mortar operation to having more than 60,000 employees equipped to work from home and two-thirds of its customer-care professionals working remotely by March end.
The credit card issuer has already said it would avoid job cuts in 2020 as it "rides out the storm" brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
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if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
UAE%20SQUAD
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Read more from Aya Iskandarani
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
