Job concerns still rife in financial services

The Hays Barometer Report surveyed around 4,100 professionals from different industries, with approximately 400 respondents from the finance industry, and found that the majority (72 per cent) valued job security as the most important factor of their current role.

The recruitment firm’s report found that mental health in financial services was still strained as employees were concerned about the future of their respective workplaces, with just 5 per cent of banking employees reporting positive or neutral mental health, while 19 per cent of insurance workers said their mental health was positive or neutral.

When asked what employers could do to improve employee mental health, 63 per cent of professionals in the accounting and finance space said firms needed to improve the transparency and regularity of their communications to workers as the crisis evolved.

Meanwhile, 67 per cent of industry employers said that they had increased their focus on employee mental health since the pandemic began, which was below the 71 per cent average across all industries surveyed.

Unsurprisingly, financial services was one of the industries with the largest proportion of people working from home, with 70 per cent of professionals saying they had worked remotely during the pandemic.

In most cases, this had led to a greater understanding among finance workers about the benefits of home work, with 71 per cent saying regular remote working was a key aspect they would value in a future role, while 67 per cent said they would like to see access to quality online tools to make remote collaboration easier.

However, the tendency towards remote working had also had negative impacts on the industry, with 39 per cent of professionals in the banking sector saying they had felt isolation and loneliness while working from home.

[Related: NAB announces banking recruitment drive]