At Citi’s new sharing office, staff are assigned lockers, not desks

Weber Lo, country head of Hong Kong of Citi, isn’t the typical career banker. He was born and grew up in Hong Kong, graduating from university in 1993 with a degree in social science. He started his career in Procter and Gamble for a few years before moving to Coca Cola in China.

He joined a start-up briefly at the turn of the century, but the firm went bust shortly after the dotcom bubble burst. It led him to join Citi in 2000 as head of Citigold in the global consumer group. Lo rose through the ranks and was promoted to his current post as Citi country officer and chief executive of Hong Kong and Macau in 2013.

Under his leadership, Lo led the team to move its headquarters across the harbour from Central to East Kowloon last year, a move which he described that not only saved costs, but also offered a chance to create a new office environment in which management and staff have more room to collaborate and more space to enjoy their working life. Welcome to Citi’s new sharing office where staff are assigned a locker, not a desk.

Lo told the South China Morning Post that the Citi office which houses 3,200 staff, has a gym, canteen, 170 carpark spaces, a garden and numerous gathering areas for staff to have formal meetings and casual catch-ups.

Why did you decide to buy your office?

The decision was made after the calculations, that is we considered the buying cost was value for money, and it also helped to remove the uncertainties of rising rents.