Just 9% of the 777 financial services companies taking part in The Flex Report: Financial Services Deep Dive reported requiring their corporate employees to be in the office full time. That's down significantly from a year ago, when 20% required full-time office attendance.
Since March of 2023, the percentage using a structured hybrid model – where employees are expected to be in the office at specified times and/or for a specific amount of time – rose to be the majority model in financial services companies at 52%, up from 41%.
The percentage offering corporate employees full flexibility on where they work held steady at 39%.
Among financial services companies that have adopted a structured hybrid model, the vast majority do so by designating a minimum number of days per week that employees must work in office, with more than half of those companies mandating at least three days (52% three days, 5% four days). The average requirement for in-office days per week checked in at 2.58 days.
When it comes to strategies for attracting and retaining talent in the finance function, it should come as little surprise that competitive pay also ranks as an employee expectation.
Recent Gartner research found that finance employees, on average, are expecting a 7% growth in base pay in 2024. And, in general, CFOs are responding in kind. Gartner polling of 296 CFOs and senior finance leaders across all industries found that 71% are planning to increase employee compensation by at least 4% in 2024.
"Finance employees entered 2024 confident in the labor market, and this manifests in high compensation expectations, high job-seeking behavior, and lower intent to stay in their current role," Alexander Bant, chief of research for CFOs in the Gartner Finance practice, said in a news release. "CFOs know they can't pay their way to retention forever and meet rising pressure on cost and profitability. Compensation is the top factor driving retention, but there are other levers that CFOs must pull to hold on to staff."
Those other levers, according to Gartner research, include a flexible work schedule but also work/life balance, health benefits, and a generous vacation policy.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com