F ormer employees at the deceased Silicon Valley Bank blame a combination of remote work, an over-focus on social issues, and a lack of risk managemen

SVB collapse: Employees blame remote work, focus on social issues for bank collapse

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2023-03-18 21:30:03

F ormer employees at the deceased Silicon Valley Bank blame a combination of remote work, an over-focus on social issues, and a lack of risk management for the bank's collapse.

Amid the collapse of the former financial institution, analysts are taking aim at the bank's work culture, which was noted to be far less strict and competitive than its rivals, according to a Financial Times report. Employees gave a variety of answers as to what they believed was the primary issue with the bank's culture, but the most common answer was the prevalence of remote work and its effect on productivity.

“It is harder to have a challenging call over Zoom. It makes it harder to challenge management,” Nicholas Bloom, a professor at Stanford University, explained to the outlet. “Ideas like hedging interest rate risk often come up over lunch or in small meetings.”

Employees noted that the management was spread across the country: CEO Greg Becker often worked from Hawaii, President Michael Descheneaux worked from Florida, Chief Risk Officer Laura Izurieta worked from a Washington suburb, and general counsel Mike Zuckert worked from New York. Employees were similarly spread out.