Exclusive: Finance professionals want more flexible working week post-Covid
People working in financial services want to see changes to their working week post-Covid, like flexible hours or choosing where to work from.
More than half (54%) of financial services employees want their organisation to offer alternative working patterns such as flexible hours or the option of remote working, according to new research from Deloitte.
The Big Four firm quizzed 2,000 financial services employees and found half (52%) wanted their employer to let them work from wherever they liked in the UK, and a quarter (24%) wanted their employer to enable them to work outside the UK post-pandemic.
In a similar vein, nearly half (48%) said ‘globalised talent’ – i.e hiring people no matter where they are based – could become a reality, with three-quarters (76%) of respondents not feeling anxious about that possibility.
While changes to the working week were welcomed, a third of employees reported feeling that their sense of belonging to their team and organisation had decreased during the pandemic, largely due to a lack of face-to-face interactions.
More than a third (34%) felt that their relationships with colleagues are less deep and meaningful because of remote working, and almost half (45%) felt their sense of autonomy had increased during the same time.
Payal Vasudeva, financial services future of work partner at Deloitte, said: “Changes to how people work need to be reinforced by meaningful employee experiences. This could be a sense of belonging, purpose or greater flexibility in the hours they work and where they work from. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The new world of work is not about presenteeism but empowerment. Employees should be able to make some choices in how and where they work that makes them their most productive.”