The end of the big bank office?
With the forced adoption of remote working having proved surprisingly successful, are we about to see a paradigm shift in the way banks operate?
The COVID-19 lockdown was only weeks old when on the 29 April Barclays CEO Jes Staley made a prediction of its long-term impact at an operational level:
“The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past,” he announced, igniting a debate on the future of the big bank office which continues to smoulder. Staley suggested that staff including investment bankers could instead work from branches as well as ‘other locations’.
While Staley was possibly the first and certainly the most vocal exponent of remote working as ‘the new normal’ for the sector, he is far from the only key industry figure who has made such a prediction.
In late June the Financial Times reported having seen a Lloyds Bank internal survey which found two-thirds of staff want to work from home several days a week, citing better work-life balance and the avoidance of a hectic commute. In response Matt Sinnott, the bank’s people and property director, was reported as saying that the bank would be reviewing its property strategy over the coming months.
Meanwhile, UBS COO Sabine Keller-Busse, speaking at Bloomberg’s Invest Global webinar series, suggested that a third of the banking sector’s workforce may not go back to the office.
Some smaller firms have in fact already taken the leap and given up their physical offices. London-based Bishopsgate Financial Consulting had been planning to move prior to the pandemic, but in consultation with staff decided to give up their physical head office in the Square Mile completely in favour of a ‘virtual office’ with a City of London address.. Similarly, Vantage Point Global, which trains graduates for banks including UBS and Credit Suisse and employs 45 people, has given up its head office near the Bank of England.
On the face of it, the potential long-term trend towards working from home seems to be something of a win-win for employer and employee alike. While banks save money on expensive office leases, staff, particularly those working in London, can potentially save thousands of pounds a year (not to mention hundreds of hours) by cutting out the daily commute. At the same time, potential concerns around levels of control and consequent productivity appear to have been largely allayed by workforce performance during the pandemic.
However, even without the stress of the lockdown, home working may not be a universal panacea. One study of 1,000 remote employees found that remote working was instead creating issues with work-life balance. These included 40% of employees having experienced mental exhaustion from video calls while working remotely. What’s more, 59% felt less cyber secure than when in the office, with as many as one in ten having had their video calls hacked while working remotely. Meanwhile, another survey found that around 50% of parents with young children didn’t think they were more productive at home during the pandemic (though of course this could be mitigated in more normal times with childcare available).
Remote working will undoubtedly be more prevalent than it was pre-pandemic, but it seems unlikely that bigger banks will give up their offices wholesale. There are clear benefits on both sides to a degree of home working, but there are also advantages in physical interaction, both from a social and a professional standpoint. It’s worth noting that in the Lloyds survey, staff expressed a wish to work from home several days a week, but not necessarily on a full-time basis.
For most banks and their staff this kind of mixed model is likely to be favoured, says Joanne Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, Chartered Banker Institute.
“Although not suitable for all individuals, I believe in future we will see a greater adoption of remote and blended working models, between home and office.
“This will not only improve employee engagement and productivity but provide a gateway to inclusion, enabling more people with disabilities or caring responsibilities to join the workforce,” she notes. “For me, treating colleagues as individuals and the workforce reflecting wider society is another step closer to achieving responsible banking principles and delivering sustainable banking models.”