It wasn’t thousands of staff petitioning their boss to let them work from home that convinced CEOs to loosen their in-office mandates—or even war in Iran threatening global oil supplies. It was the World Cup.
In fact, two of the loudest champions of the return-to-office movement, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, are temporarily allowing employees to request remote work on match days during the 2026 tournament, according to internal memos seen by the Financial Times.
Hundreds of thousands of football fans are expected to swarm New York and New Jersey in the coming weeks to watch the soccer. But the likes of JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon aren’t giving their workers flexibility to clock off early and join the fans to watch the game.
The reason for the temporarily softened stance is that there will be significant changes to transit services and severe street closures to accommodate the massive crowds. During peak travel windows, World Cup ticket holders will be prioritized—so workers who commute on impacted routes that do not have a ticket to the match won’t be able to catch their train into the office, or home.
And it’s not just Wall Street bankers getting a taste of unexpected flexibility.
