Financial services companies see hybrid work staying

Many financial services IT and business decision makers expect more than half of their workforce to reman hybrid after the pandemic ends.

“The financial services sector has felt the impact of COVID-19 and the dramatic shift to remote and hybrid working,” said Jonaki Egenolf, chief marketing officer for Riverbed | Aternity. “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. Hybrid work is becoming a prerequisite for banks to attract new talent and retain a competitive advantage.”

Furthermore, the vast majority of financial services business decision makers believe hybrid work environments help them recruit top talent and remain competitive in the future.

Despite this, however, 87 percent are concerned that as employees return to offices, there may be a disparity in network and application performance for hybrid/remote employees vs. in-office employees.

A Riverbed | Aternity survey revealed the top five barriers to developing a hybrid work model:

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

Businesses plan to address these challenges through technology investments during the next 12 to 18 months:

• Better visibility of network and application performance (51 percent)
• Investing in cybersecurity technology and software (47 percent)
• Increasing the use of cloud services and software-as-a-service applications (40 percent)
• Investing in end-user experience and digital experience monitoring solutions (40 percent)
• Investing in application or network acceleration solutions (37 percent)

“In 2022, the financial services sector must step up and embrace new technology, full-fidelity visibility and unified observability, which will help to further their digital and hybrid strategies,” Egenolf said. “If they do, they will be able to create seamless experiences that attract new talent, opportunities and see the true benefits of a hybrid world.”