The Future of Flexible Working

in Financial Sciences & Services 1

The Mass Return to the Office:

FACT OR FICTION?
As our clients continue to look to us for guidance, we Historically, flexible working has not been a hallmark of Financial
surveyed our Financial Services companies about their Services, but with many financial institutions having already
hybrid and flexible working policies. adopted, or expecting to adopt a mix of remote and office
working as part of their longer-term strategies, the landscape
Since flexible working was introduced to the masses, appears to be shifting, so we decided to explore this trend.
where we work and how we work will never quite be the
same again. The pandemic forced employers to rethink In our recent survey, The Future of Flexible Working, we asked
what was possible in terms of their workforce and the a number of our clients across the Financial Services market
workplace. Whilst the majority of businesses were quick what their current challenges are in the hiring space when it
to react to these changes and provided more flexibility, comes to flexible and hybrid working and what their plans
the path forward is not so clear for everyone. are for the immediate future.

Since then, some firms have opted to integrate “lessons Contents

learnt” into their working policies since Covid-19 and give
their employees flexibility and options to work remotely 3. Overall results
– for instance, at Deloitte, there is no obligation to work
from the office for a minimum number of days 4. Our survey says
per week.
5. The pros and cons of hybrid working

Whether you’re part of a huge wealth management 6. Sector differences

group or a startup, regular office spaces are declining in
popularity because flexible and hybrid working patterns 7. Mind the gap
have reduced demand for overall office space. That’s
8. A continued need for agility
a huge leap from where finance companies put their
priorities just a few years ago. The drawback here, however, 10. The future leans towards hybrid...for now
is that commercial, long-term lease agreements mean
companies are paying for an asset that simply isn’t being 11. Our coverage
used. For this reason, calling staff back into the office
justifies these costs. Among those who have introduced 12. About us
a return to the office is Goldman Sachs. 2
Overall results
For both the US and Europe, these were the 5 key takeaways:

1. The top challenge to hiring for both regions is the

shortage of qualified candidates (27%)

2. The majority of respondents do offer hybrid

working in some form (nearly 62%)

3. Most firms don’t expect any change to how often

they go into the office in 2023 (76%)

4. Flexible/remote working policies do help to attract

and keep talent (73%)

5. Flexible working has increased productivity (40%)

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Our survey says
The greatest challenges Hybrid working offering

When asked about their greatest 55% of US clients offer hybrid working,
challenges in hiring, our US-based but in Europe, however, the picture is
clients’ top three answers were: very different. A massive 84% offer hybrid
working, much higher than the US; but
• Shortage of qualified candidates (28%) the US also offers more fully remote
• Increasing competition for top options. What was more interesting was
talent (24%) that in the US, 76% said there will be no
change to how often they go into the
• Retaining talent (18%)
office in 2023, and nearly 75% think their
flexible/remote working policy helps
In Europe, the answers were identical and
attract talent and maintain existing talent.
the figures very similar, however instead
of retaining talent, European firms are
Companies with more flexibility are
finding it harder to engage talented
positioning themselves as more attractive
professionals and attract them to
compared to those with more rigid
their business:
structures. Europe had similar numbers,
with 75% saying there will be no change
• Shortage of qualified candidates (25%)
to how often they go into the office in
• Harder to engage talented 2023, and 69% think their flexible/remote
professionals (22%) working policy helps attract talent and
• Increasing competition for top maintain existing talent.
talent (19%)

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The pros and cons of hybrid working

When done right, hybrid work benefits both Taking part in team-building activities or company-
employers and employees, and there’s no doubt wide meetings plays a significant role in fostering
that hybrid work is the future for many firms. company culture. But having disjointed teams and
remote working makes this hard to accomplish. Also,
The benefits of introducing a dynamic working policy social cues of office etiquette is taking a hit where we
are varied and can have a significant impact on both are seeing the new entrants to corporate working are
business and workforce performance. Some of the not gaining the lessons and experience they would
potential positives of a flexible work culture are: normally have three years ago. So it was perhaps
not so surprising to see that in the US:
Benefits to employees Benefits to employers
Nearly 38% said that flexible working has negatively
• Job satisfaction • Staff engagement impacted workplace culture. On the flip side,
• Improved work-life balance • Increased productivity 35% said it has had a positive impact.
• Reduced travel time and costs • Improved talent attraction/retention
• Increased productivity • Reduced costs And in Europe:
Nearly 30% said that flexible working has had

“ For the more niche roles we are working, a negative impact on workplace culture and 38%
said it has had a positive impact.
we are finding strong fits in undesirable
locations. This would not be an issue if
remote work were an option. Companies
that have incorporated remote employees
now have access to a much wider
candidate pool, however this limits
on-site only companies and creates
a competitive disadvantage in
quality of talent.”

- James Barfield
Senior Vice President, Strategic Client Partnerships
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Sector differences
Some sectors are simply more flexible than others. Our study
revealed that in the US market, 45% of Financial Technology
and 43% of Insurance & Actuarial sectors offer the most
remote working flexibility.

As previously mentioned, most clients in both the US and

Europe agree that flexible / remote working has mostly had
a positive impact on productivity or has not affected it at all.
However, 18% of US clients said these working policies have
decreased productivity, mostly in the Corporate & Investment
Banking space.

Interestingly in the US, for Insurance & Actuarial and

Corporate and Investment Banking, a significant factor also
driving the need for hiring talent in the next year is attrition.
Company growth was the top answer for clients in general
for both the US and Europe, so there are clear nuances
in the industry.

In Europe, the second reason for hiring in the next year is

due to a skills/knowledge gap, with global demand for talent
showings no signs of cooling down. Banks are competing for To get ahead, financial institutions need to take a proactive
highly skilled staff against both fintechs and big techs, as well as approach in identifying future skills requirements that will help
other industries going through digital transformation. According them address rapid technological and societal changes. And in
to research by the UK’s Financial Services Skills Commission addition to looking externally for talent, they need to be creative
(FSSC), 92% of its member firms had hard-to-fill vacancies in reskilling and upskilling their existing workforce.
in 2021.
However, the half-life of technical skills is decreasing. This
means the time it takes for a skill to become half as valuable is
accelerating because of innovation and technological change.
This increases the pressure to keep up and regularly forecast
skills requirements, making the jobs of talent partners just that
slightest bit harder.
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Mind the gap

The final section of our study probed into how

businesses are planning to improve their efforts to
retain talent, as in the US especially, retaining talent
is one of the biggest challenges firms currently face.

For our US-based clients, the top three ways they

plan on doing this are:

• Reviewing compensation packages (47%)

• Offering new projects and responsibilities (42%)
• Prioritizing development through programs
and initiatives (38%)

And for our Europe-based clients, their top three

ways to retain talent are identical:

• Reviewing compensation packages (36%)

• Offering new projects and responsibilities (39%)
• Prioritizing development through programs
and initiatives (43%)

While employees can save money on travel costs by not having to commute,
Unsurprisingly, the most popular retention method one must also consider that when working from home, other costs such as
for both regions is to review compensation electric, AC and gas bills may skyrocket. But many studies show that people
packages; in other words, employers are willing want to see the value beyond money, no matter how juicy the numbers look.
to offer more in order to deter employees from That said, employers are also willing to offer more flexibility to improve
leaving. In the case of salary, it is almost always one work-life balance, which, for a myriad of reasons, can help employees of all
of the biggest pull factors that keeps employees. backgrounds and ages.

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A continued
need for agility
While some Financial Services companies still want their
employees back in the office, it is clear that the majority are “some employees do
continuing with the ‘new normal’ and adapting to employees’ acknowledge that
needs in the hopes of better attraction and retention of their certain functions
people. Despite many leaders’ desires for employees to come are not as effective
back to an office environment, a lot of professionals believe this remotely as in-person”
could impact their willingness to stay with their employer.

Given the difficulty many sectors are having in finding enough

workers as their businesses grow, employees’ preferences for
flexibility have taken on what amounts to a demand status.
If Financial Services organizations don’t agree to these demands,
they risk losing valuable employees.

On the other hand, some employees do acknowledge that

certain functions are not as effective remotely as in-person.
For example, certain collaboration tools limit the creativity and
genuineness that in-person collaboration can bring. Resources
are also less accessible whilst working from home, for instance,
access to knowledge and equipment.

Another major drawback to remote work is that it is more

difficult to mentor and train new workers or graduates —and it
is next to impossible to do some Financial Services jobs without
intensive mentoring, at least at the beginning of the job.
And, as we have witnessed in interviews, some candidates want
to feel a belonging and be part of something bigger. By having
less interaction with coworkers, more time and ways are needed
to forge strong team bonds. Consequently, they are requesting
to view jobs that are not fully remote.
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If, as a hiring decision maker, you are undecided
on hybrid/flexible working policies, the following
may be useful to consider.

1 2 3
COMMUNICATE WHY IN-PERSON DECIDE WHICH ROLES WILL BE BE CONSISTENT BETWEEN
WORK MATTERS AND HELP 100% REMOTE AND HOW OFTEN WHAT YOU SAY AND WHAT
EMPLOYEES OVERCOME THE OTHERS WILL NEED TO REPORT YOU DO.
OBSTACLES THEY FACE. TO THE OFFICE.

There are a lot of factors driving this split Hybrid/flexible working is now seen as The decisions you make now are likely to
in attitudes. For some, they may have more desirable by more employees than have a lasting effect on your culture. While
parental or other family responsibilities ever before. Employers will have some many firms are delaying return-to-office
like duty of care. Cost of travel may also decisions ahead: Who will be offered a decisions, others are quietly expanding
be a huge influencing factor as well, given greater deal of hybrid/flexible work? Are offices where on-site work is easier to
the rise in cost of living, and the energy you making decisions about this fairly? support. There’s no one-size-fits-all, but
crisis in Europe. Offering flexibility by How will you maintain a distinct culture you’ll want to be sure that you’re being
being able to work hours which are more if employees are hybrid? How will your transparent and consistent. If you tell your
convenient for their needs is one example policies affect your hiring strategy to find, team that you’re leading with flexibility
of how companies can help employees attract and integrate talent? but your executives all return to in-person
balance their hours outside work, you may implicitly signal that
of the traditional 9-5. management really values in-person work
more highly. Worse, this may lead
But when considering the bigger picture, to skepticism that undercuts other
companies will have to explain to their corporate messaging.
employees why in-person work also
matters—and they’ll want to address the
very real obstacles their workers face.
This could mean providing additional
resources for employees and addressing
their concerns.

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The future leans towards
hybrid...for now
With its irregular working patterns,
seasonal spikes in workload throughout Some companies are using these changes as a technical wake-
the financial calendar, and a growing up call. For example, we now see commercial banks accelerating
need to be available across different time some digital transformation projects and rethinking their call
zones, flexible working was already being center structures. For them, the hybrid model includes a mixture
talked about in the Financial Services of working on-site and telecommuting. To make this successful,
sector prior to the beginning of the firms are moving up plans to incorporate features like chatbots
Covid-19 pandemic. Now, with concrete and improve self-service channels. Better customer transitions
evidence of its benefits, flexible working lead to better outcomes for companies and employees, whether
and its hybrid variations are increasingly on-site or remote.
being recognized by the industry as
essential for maintaining work-life balance Compromise is key
and staying productive. As many work through the issues in the transition back to more
frequent on-site work, it may help to also take a risk-based view.
As the market experiences high demand The decisions employers make on their working policies could
for skilled talent, it is important good change their exposure to a variety of risks, including economic,
people are retained. Being able to adapt operations, cybersecurity and fraud, reputational and legal. As
to the changing motivations of employees you consider the upside of a return to the office, balance that
to drive forward retention in later years with considerations of what could go wrong. Your employees
is key. should be part of that calculation. And, as you design controls
to mitigate other risks, remember that even small decisions
More and more employers are listening may have an outsized effect on your employees’ attitudes,
to the workforce and are exploring flexible productivity and commitment.
and hybrid combinations to balance the
need for in-person collaboration with the For this reason, and as our study shows, a hybrid/flexible work
practical necessities of operating within model is the best compromise between all-remote work and
shared office spaces intermittently, returning to a Financial Services office environment full-time.
as dictated by the nature of the It appears that, for most Financial Services firms, hybrid/flexible
work activity. working is tried and tested, and they show no signs of making
any change to their successful hybrid working models.

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Our coverage
Selby Jennings is the leading talent partner to work with when it comes to solving hiring
challenges in Financial Services & Sciences. Through our 500+ talent experts around the
world, we placed 3,100+ professionals last year in the following industries:
Investment Banking | Investment Management | Wealth Management | Risk Management
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About Us
Selby Jennings is a leading specialist talent partner for Financial Contact Us
Sciences and Services. Our team of industry specialists has been
supporting clients for nearly 20 years, successfully helping them
Ben Hodzic
find the top talent they need to grow their business.
Managing Director, Selby Jennings USA

[email protected]
Firms and their leaders are now under increasing pressure
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time, dedication, and expertise – that’s where we come in. Matt Nicholson
Through years of developing relationships with top industry Managing Director, Selby Jennings Europe

professionals, we have created a global network of the best [email protected]

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we can place candidates with speed, efficiency, and precision. Managing Director - Global Head of Partnerships
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