Since the world recovered from the COVID saga, Wall Street chiefs have been aggressively pushing for a return to pre-Covid office hours. However, their efforts will be met with stiff resistance: not from the younger staff now, but from the most unlikely actors – senior executives.
A significant percentage of top performers and senior executives are actively pushing against the 5 day office week Wall Street is trying to implement. This agitation isn’t something to play with.
Although the deciding parties (CEOs) are adamant to enforce this, experts warn that refusing to budge can lead to dire consequences for the financial industry at large. The agitators are ready to match words with action. But how far are they willing to go? As far as possible, is the answer.
In fact, recent research revealed that two-thirds of financial executives would rather quit their high-paying jobs than resume working from the office 5 days a week. This means that most senior executives are willing to leave their present employer for more flexible opportunities even if the pay is not as much. Companies open to hybrid working schedules will easily poach top performers from companies unwilling to bend.
An even more disturbing result of the compulsory return to office mandate is the damage it does to the number of female professionals in financial institutions. Especially those in senior leadership roles.
The report revealed that workers with caregiving responsibilities (a large percentage of which are women) were very likely to leave their jobs if their employer enforced the return to office mandate. Family should always come first, right?
Almost half of the female respondents in executive roles and 0.41 of women occupying next-generation roles admitted to most likely leaving their current employer. Also, half of the women looking to leave their employer would go as far as leaving the financial industry completely.
According to the report, if drastic measures aren’t taken, women’s representation in senior leadership could become stagnant. This will inevitably lead to a steady decline in next-generation roles for the female gender.
Imagine if years of working to close the gender gap and pull women through the ranks falls down the drain, all due to sabotage by an unpopular mandate.
It’s becoming more glaring that workplace flexibility is here to stay. Employees have tasted the new freedom, and it’s pretty hard to let go. Financial institutions hoping to remain at the top of the chain must be open to tweaking their company policies or risk losing their top guns.
In a statement to Fortune, Dan Schaw, managing partner at Work Intelligence, revealed that financial institutions should be very concerned with the rate at which many of their senior staff are willing to leave their roles. It’s time to look before taking that leap.
He advised that instead of stamping down on the return to office policy, financial institutions should be willing to come to a compromise that serves both the business objectives and the well-being of their staff.
