Hybrid Working Overview
During the pandemic the workforce was pushed to work from home full time, a huge shift where remote working/flexible working was only really starting to become a staple.
90% of candidates claim they are still happy working from home (part time as a minimum). With just under 50% believing it has improved their working relationships and 50% feeling they encounter fewer distractions, resulting in improved productivity.
Before the pandemic, working from home/flexible working was seen as a perk, often coupled with the assumption it was less productive. However, post pandemic and as we head into 2022 most employees and candidates feel they have proven they are able to maintain a high level of productivity and communication (with tools such as Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams becoming commonplace).
86% of employees have stated they now expect at least 2 day remote working as a minimum requirement for them to even consider an organisation as a potential employer.
We are seeing an increase in flexibility from clients with start times, finish times and remote work. The average flexibility with clients is offering 3 days a week from home. Depending on the seniority of the roles this can be higher.
With many companies now deriving offline policies and procedures to ensure all working standards are maintained and adhered to for remote and flexible working days.
Things to consider
Systems and Tools
As most companies were pushed to upgrade many tools and systems to support remote working during the peak of the pandemic, these are no longer seen as constraints or barriers to flexible working.
Office Space
With many organisations now offering flexible working in some shape or form they have been able to reduce office space by an average of 20% allowing them to recoup some of the losses experienced during the pandemic and now reallocate this continued saving to other budgets. Such as Capita who have closed 49/294 premises and Lloyds bank announcing they will be reducing their office space by 20%.
Candidate driven market
With the demand for highly skilled Finance professionals rapidly rising on a daily basis it truly is a candidate-driven market. Candidates are currently juggling multiple interview processes and comparing not only salaries but the overall package - 80% of these packages include remote working at least 35% of the time.
Salaries
It is forecasted that salary budgets are projected to grow to 3.3% on average in 2022, up from 3% in 2021. This signals continued economic recovery and an increase in market demand for Finance professionals.
In the month of November we were placing candidates at an average of 16.4% higher than the “norm”. This shows how the competition is fierce on the market and that clients are willing to pay more than what would normally be expected.
Employee monitoring and analytics
Although controversial, we have seen more and more employers investing in technology designed to monitor and track the behaviour of their employees in order to drive efficiency whether home or office based.
Hybrid working written into contracts
We have seen an 80% increase in the number of small, medium and large companies showing a willingness to amend and integrate new remote working policies into employment contracts post pandemic; stamping out any miscommunications.
With this now becoming such commonplace, 95% of candidates are negotiating this confirmation before even accepting first stage interviews with potential employers.
‘The Great Resignation’
Many finance professionals were reluctant to move roles during the pandemic, however since May 2021 we have seen a large increase in the number of professionals now not only actively looking to make a change but consistently passively looking for a move to well established organisations. For most Finance professionals ‘perks and pay’ is not sufficient to attract them to a new organisation as they now prioritize work-life balance, mental health, and having a meaningful job.
Moreover there is no sign of this trend slowing down as we head into 2022 as employers compete to offer the most attractive employment packages.
In Summary
As we head into 2022, employees are showing less tolerance for roles based on site and are already holding employers to a higher standard when it comes to flexible working. Employers have no choice but to step up to the plate if they want to attract and retain talent amidst an candidate-driven market.