Fintech’s Employee Flexibility Could Give It a Leg Up on Big Banks

Most finance firms offer work location flexibility, but a report from Scoop suggests that over time, the fintech subsector will use flexibility as a wedge against the fully onsite big banks for recruiting workers.

Flexibility is the second most important criterion for job seekers after compensation, and its impact reaches far beyond individuals’ work choices, according to Rob Sadow, CEO, Scoop.

Its Flex Index finds that nearly 80 percent of fintech companies are fully flexible. And while Jamie Dimon caused a stir with his full-time in-office mandate for JPMorgan Chase, only 20 percent of financial services companies are fully on site. Most use hybrid schedules.

Flex Index is based on insights from 4,000 companies and 25,000 office locations that collectively employ more than 100 million people.

Based on the Need for In-Person Contact

Basil Onyia, CPHHR, MBA-HR, and senior human resources specialist at Worldline, the fourth largest payment provider in the world, tells GlobeSt.com, “It comes down to two factors: the business models and client comfort,

“For organizations like Worldline and others in fintech serving primarily as a B2B company in the digital space, it can be an easier shift to offer a fully remote or a hybrid model because our customers are other organizations that do not need in-person contact as much and are pretty spread out cross-nationally,” Onyia said.

“But with financial service firms, such as wealth management companies, brokerage companies, investment companies, and other B2C, consumers in our society still need and trust the face-to-face contact that brings reassurance more so than an over-the-phone conversation or electronic correspondence.

“Especially when their personal finances are at play. This factor plays a part in how flexible an organization can be if its clientele—its revenue—demands or prefers to walk in the door rather than dialing in or connecting online.”

Fintech Could Retrack Remote-First Work Policies

Sarah Bouzarouata, senior manager, work dynamics and industries research, JLL, tells GlobeSt.com that fintech companies are facing a unique set of challenges in the new era of work.

“They have to compete with both tech organizations and traditional banking and financial services firms and are now navigating acute economic pressures amid stock market volatility and declining cash reserves at startups,” she said.

“This has led to a wave of ongoing consolidation across the sector. In fact, fintech companies accounted for over 50% of the largest sublease spaces added in the U.S. over the past nine months. They are highly regulated relative to the tech industry, so some are limited in the flexibility they can provide employees and are also more susceptible to revenue loss in the current economic environment than traditional banks.”

Bouzarouata said fintech companies based in markets with a heavier concentration of Big Tech companies are more likely to offer flexibility, specifically in markets with unpleasant commutes.

“This traditionally has served as a lever in talent attraction from banks that are less flexible,” she said. “However, an increasing number of leading tech companies have recently retracted their remote-first policies, so this may serve as a catalyst for fintech companies to follow suit.”