PNC Financial Services Group is offering some of its employees an incentive to return to their Downtown offices — free parking for two months.
Bank officials are rolling out the Pittsburgh Commuter Parking Program for finance and realty services staff and for human resources workers, according to a memo obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The pilot program was set to start Wednesday. It offers employees free parking in Gold Lot 1 next to Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore for 60 days. The bank will run free shuttles from that location to One PNC Plaza in the heart of its Downtown campus from 7 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and from 3:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The initiative is believed to be part of an effort by the bank, led by president and CEO Bill Demchak, to coax more workers who became accustomed to working at home during the pandemic to return to the office at least several days a week.
If the bank is successful, it could help to boost the fortunes of Downtown, which has struggled with so many office employees working from home. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership estimates that only about half of the workforce has returned at least part of the week.
Olivia Lammel, a PNC spokeswoman, confirmed that that pilot program is taking place but added that “it’s too early to share any details externally.” She declined further comment.
According to the memo, PNC has made arrangements to have Pittsburgh Police present at Gold Lot 1 and One PNC Plaza during the times the shuttle is running back and forth.
Qualifying for the free parking are employees who work at the Tower of PNC Plaza, One PNC Plaza, Two PNC Plaza, and Three PNC Plaza, all located around the Wood Street and Fifth Avenue intersection, and PNC Firstside Center on First Avenue.
In all, about 500 workers are believed to be eligible for the pilot program, which PNC touted as a “convenient, cost-effective and secure option” for them. The parking is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
At the end of the 60 days, employees will be able to park in Gold Lot 1 for $5 — still a bargain compared to the regular daily rate of $8. In addition, a monthly lease will be available for $100, or $60 lower than the regular rate.
According to the memo, the pilot program is being done in partnership with Alco Parking, which operates the North Shore lot.
“We’re very happy to work with PNC in encouraging their employees to come Downtown,” Alco president Merrill Stabile said.
Earlier this year, a Reddit post stated that PNC planned to bring business technology and innovation employees back to the office starting in February. According to the post, they were required to be in the office at least two days a week.
At the time, Ms. Lammel said the company had “nothing to share externally” about the matter.
Before the pandemic, PNC had about 2,200 employees in its Tower at PNC Plaza headquarters alone. Overall, it has about 12,500 workers in the region, including Downtown.
The bank is not the only one making a move to bring employees back to the office.
Highmark, another big Downtown employer, announced earlier this week that the health giant was making some changes to a policy implemented in 2021 that allowed employees to work from home. In conjunction with that decision, starting next month, Highmark Health leaders at the vice president level or above will be working on-site three days a week — whether from an office building, hospital, or customer or stakeholder location.
At the same time, “Each department continues to assess what will work best for their employees and will revise their hybrid work accordingly," Highmark stated.
BNY Mellon, another significant Downtown employer, has been asking the majority of employees to work in the office two to three days a week since early 2022. Before the pandemic, the bank employed about 7,000 people in Pittsburgh.
“We’re committed to driving a culture of high performance through a hybrid model that embraces the best of collaborative, in-person experiences, along with the flexibility of remote working,” BNY Mellon said in a statement.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: March 16, 2023, 9:51 a.m.
Updated: March 16, 2023, 6:34 p.m.
