Half of Planners to continue remote working post pandemic
Almost half (46%) of Financial Planners expect to work remotely at least two days a week after the Coronavirus pandemic.
Only 17% of Financial Planners surveyed by the Personal Finance Society (PFS) said they expect to spend the bulk of their week in the office, and no more than one day a week remote working, once the government’s guidance to slow the spread of Coronavirus changes to allow greater access to the office.
Almost a quarter (23%) said that they intend to stay away from the office and only join colleagues physically in the office one or two days a week.
Only 14% of the Financial Planner surveyed said they intend to go back into the office five days a week.
The Office for National Statistics released a report this morning showing that nearly a quarter (24%) of businesses intend to use increased remote working as a permanent business model after the Coronavirus pandemic ends.
A separate report from the BBC this morning said almost all of 50 of the UK's largest employers do not plan to bring all staff back to the office full-time after the pandemic, with most planning a mix of home and office working.
Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, said the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic have broken through cultural and technological barriers that prevented greater remote working in the past.
He said: “The results of this survey show the limitations and benefits of remote working have been made clear by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“While there is clearly an appetite for greater remote working to persist post pandemic it is interesting to note more than one in 10 want to return full-time to their office. Financial advisers must now figure out what works best remotely and what tasks require personal interaction in order to deliver the best outcomes for clients as well as their own work-life balance.”
The PFS surveyed 771 of their members via social media in April.