Business Maverick

Business Maverick

Four in Five U.K. Finance Firms Plan to Implement Hybrid Work

Commuters walk across London Bridge against a backdrop of The Shard in London, U.K., on Thursday, May 27, 2021. More than half of workers in London's financial districts may now be traveling back into the office, the most since lockdown measures began easing in the U.K., according to rising sales of tuna baguettes and lattes. Bloomberg

More than 80% of U.K. financial services firms expect to take a hybrid approach to work with employees working part time at home and at the office, according to a survey of 118 firms.

Some 79% of firms are reappraising their office space and almost 80% have conducted employee consultations on their preferences, the poll of banks, insurers and money managers published Thursday by the Confederation of British Industry and PwC found.

The results come as lenders start to formalize their post-pandemic plans for the office. Some companies, including Standard Chartered Plc and Citigroup Inc., have sketched out more flexible policies. Others, like Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have made clear their determination for staff to eventually return to the office.

The survey found that 36% of firms have fully communicated their hybrid plan to employees.

Read more: The Next Big Divide in Finance Is Taking Shape in Your Office

The report also found that optimism among U.K. finance firms rose in the three months to June, for the fourth consecutive quarter as Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to remove Covid restrictions in England on July 19. Still, the rapid growth in the economy as lockdowns ease is likely to fade in the coming months, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said this month.

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