While Shanghai is shut down due to an omikron eruption, employees in the city’s business district are sleeping in the office.
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China’s largest city has shut down as a result of an outbreak of the omikron variant. The closure has been divided into two by the Huangpu River, and the eastern district of Pudong has been the first out.
This is also where the Lujiazui area, Shanghai’s answer to “Wall Street”, is located. However, several banks and investment companies have encouraged employees to stay in the office, to avoid quarantine, home office and work disruptions.
On Sunday night, the company Sinolink Securities issued a warning on its own website, urging its employees to hurry back to Pudong headquarters by midnight, to “ensure continuity in system operations and trading”.
However, many traders in the city have volunteered to camp at the offices, writes Bloomberg.
– We are at the forefront of investment, and we need faster and more efficient communication, says Alex Wang. He works for the investment company AXA SPDB Investment Managers Company, and has lived with several other colleagues in the company’s premises for the past two weeks, according to the newspaper.
According to CNN Business Traders and fund managers were offered between 500 and 2000 Chinese yuan, equivalent to between 690 and 2765 Norwegian kroner, per night to camp in the office.
–Ensures operation
Shanghai has over 26 million inhabitants and houses China’s largest financial market. More than 20,000 people work in the Lujiazui district of Shanghai. The financial hub processed financial transactions for more than NOK 2.5 billion last year, according to Reuters.
In an update on Chinese social media WeChat tells the company Zhong Ou Asset Management that several of their employees have spent the night in the office to ensure operations.
– The chief inspector of the company, who is responsible on site, has been stationed in the office for more than half a month.
Furthermore, the post states that even though most employees work from home, the daily trading on the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen is still ongoing.
– Several investment directors and managers have taken the lead in staying in the office and lead each team to ensure the company’s asset management during the trading day, they write.
– The priority is to keep the business going.
–Another company, Foresight Fund, has also signed on WeChat that some of their employees have lived in the office since March 16.
– Weekends are no exception. They bring daily necessities and call the company their home.
Some companies have placed folding beds under the employees’ desks, and have also supplemented sleeping bags, food and toiletries for the “campers”. In the update to the Foresight Fund, one can see pictures of well-stocked refrigerators and camping beds set up at employees’ desks.
The company Amundi BOC Wealth Management Co has also stated that their top managers and other key personnel in investment, trade and risk management work and sleep in their offices to ensure “smooth business operations”, writes Reuters.
–Largest shutdown in two years
Today’s infection rates in Shanghai are the highest since the pandemic started two years ago, and according to Chinese authorities, the shutdown is the largest so far in the city. On Tuesday, a fifth of the country’s nearly 5,000 cases were from Shanghai.
The eastern part of Shanghai, which has around 11 million inhabitants, has been on lockdown since Monday. On Friday, the closure will be transferred to the western part of the city, where close to 14 million people will be asked to stay indoors for the next few days.
According to CNN, workers in China have become well acquainted with the concept of living in the office. In a video published on Chinese social media Sina Weibo of the state-run Chinese news media china.com.cn, employees of an unidentified company tell of everyday life as “real office rats”.
According to the video, 75 workers lived on the office’s 3230 square meters. Among other things, they had to boil water to wash themselves before shower facilities were installed in the building.
– The first days we felt a panic. We did not get to sleep until around 2 or 3 at night. says a woman in the video, according to CNN. She also states that employees who snored were sent to a separate meeting room.
– It felt like being back in the dormitory at the university.
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