Japanese brokerage Nomura CEO Kentaro Okuda is weighing the possibility of reducing office space at its headquarters in Tokyo as more employees embrace remote working in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

Okuda said that the firm will review the issue.

“Do we need such a lot of staff in Otemachi? Do we need that much workspace here? I would like to discuss those issues,” he told Reuters.

The move is aimed at lowering costs for the firm, which registered a net loss in Q4.

The firm already announced a JPY140bn ($1.3bn) cost-cutting plan. However, according to Okuda, this is no longer enough.

The brokerage will also review costs related to domestic branches with big lecture rooms.

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“I think we will likely come to hold seminars through tools like Zoom rather than inviting a lot of people every day to the halls,” Bloomberg quoted Okuda as saying.

At the same time, Nomura reaffirmed that it will not review its Hong Kong operations despite the political turbulence.

The firm reportedly also intends to expand in the mainland through its securities joint venture.

“Mainland China is an important market for Nomura, and Hong Kong remains the key hub for our business in Asia ex-Japan,” Nomura stated in an emailed statement.