96% of financial services decision-makers believe hybrid work environments will help recruit talent  

Riverbed | Aternity has unveiled that nearly half (42%) of all IT decision-makers (ITDMs) and 38% of business decision-makers (BDMs) in the financial services sector believe that over 50% of their workforce will remain hybrid post-pandemic. Furthermore, the vast majority of financial services BDMs (96%) believe hybrid work environments help with the ability to recruit top talent and it will help them remain competitive in the future.  

Despite this, 87% of BDMs are concerned that as employees return to offices, there may be a disparity in network and application performance for hybrid/remote employees versus in-office employees. These are three of the findings from the Riverbed | Aternity Hybrid Work Global Survey, which provides insights into the current state of hybrid working, highlighting key investment areas and technologies needed to create a high-performing hybrid workplace. 

Hybrid work environments are now a prerequisite for new talent. However, in the financial services sector, surprisingly, 59% say that they are not completely prepared from a technology standpoint, to support long-term hybrid working. To address this, ITDMs (90%) and BDMs (88%) plan to invest in technology to support a hybrid workplace over the next 12-18 months.  

Barriers to success 

The report reveals that retaining talent and creating sustainable and high-performing hybrid workplaces are reliant on organisations addressing both human and technology-related barriers. According to Financial Services ITDMs, the top five barriers to adopting a hybrid work model are: 

• Lacking the right technology and equipment in the home setups (31%) 
• Poor home/remote network performance (29%) 
• Expanded security risks (27%) 
• Lack of visibility across the network (26%) 

• Lacking the right technology and equipment in the traditional office (26%) 

Financial services BDMs agree that increasing security risks (37%) is also one of their biggest barriers to adopting hybrid working across their organisation – two in five (42%), cite employee motivation and wellbeing as the main reason.  

Investing in visibility and the hybrid workforce 

BDMs are committed to investing in new technologies and ways of working to attract new talent and futureproof their business. By embracing new technology and committing to a hybrid work environment, banks and financial services will increase productivity, allow for a better customer and employee experience and ultimately drive greater revenue. Their top areas of technology investments over the next 12-18 months are: 

• Better visibility of network and application performance (51%) 
• Investing in cybersecurity technology and software (47%) 
• Increasing the use of cloud services and Software-as-a-Service applications (40%) 

• Investing in end-user experience and digital experience monitoring solutions (40%) 
• Investing in application or network acceleration solutions (37%) 

“As the world returns to some new normality, banks and financial services are on the hunt for talent and battling against a shortage that is impacting businesses worldwide,” said Mena Migally, Regional Vice President, META at Riverbed | Aternity. “Hybrid work is becoming a prerequisite for banks to attract new talent and retain a competitive advantage. To provide the seamless experience employees now demand, BDMs and ITDMs need to work together to ensure they have the right technology in place to meet these expectations.”