Europe’s Time-Starved Traders Want to Keep Working From Home

(Bloomberg) -- Europe’s stock traders used to frown at the notion of working from home. But the pandemic has changed all that and most now want to avoid the office, at least some of the time, potentially marking a seismic shift for an industry renowned for its long hours and cutthroat competition.

Four-fifths of 85 traders contacted by Bloomberg News this month said they want to be able to work remotely at least some of the time once current restrictions end. The effect was even more pronounced in a wider group of responses from 254 financial market professionals, with more than 90% saying they will consider home working in future.

Lockdowns across Europe came just as traders were beginning to rethink their work-life balance in a region with some of the world’s longest trading hours, exemplified in a London Stock Exchange Group Plc survey showing that most favored a shorter day. For an industry known for buzzing trading floors and relationship-building, the current circumstances have given people freedom to imagine another way of doing their jobs. More than 50% of the traders asked said they’d like to work from home at least half the time going forward.

“There was an accepted norm that at least to fulfill some roles effectively, you absolutely had to be in the office for extended hours and that would be the only way to work,” said Joseph Sproul, associate director at Alpha FMC, a London-based consultant to the asset and wealth-management industry. “The experience over the last two months has shown that there are other ways of working and in some roles a much more balanced approach can be just as effective, if not more effective.”

Signs of such a change are already emerging. Danske Bank A/S announced it would allow staff to work from home a couple of days a week, as a permanent adjustment to its employment terms. JPMorgan Chase & Co. expects to keep its offices half full at most for the “foreseeable future,” according to a memo sent to employees in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. In Spain, ING Groep NV is testing a plan to allow employees total flexibility on whether they work in the office or from home from Sept. 1.

Saving time on the commute and increased productivity were among the top reasons that European finance professionals cited for preferring to work from home. Others also mentioned lower stress levels, healthier lifestyles and more time with their families.

‘More Free Time’

Matthew McLoughlin, London-based head of trading at Liontrust Investment Partners LLP, said it would be ideal if traders were able to split their week between the office and home because that would improve their work-life balance while allowing them to interact with colleagues and clients.

“I have been surprised how well shifting the world of trading to working from home has gone,” McLoughlin said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working from home and can definitely say that I have never felt both mentally and physically healthier. I feel that my company has benefited too, I am able to work longer hours where necessary, while still enjoying more free time due to the lack of commute.”

About 97% of analysts and 94% of fund managers asked said they want to work from home in future, at least some of the time. More than two thirds of those asked were doing so full-time at the time they responded. And despite increased compliance reporting introduced by MiFID II, 83% of respondents said it’s still possible to follow the rules and regulations.

About 58% of those who responded to questions from Bloomberg News were based in London, with the rest spanning other major European cities, including Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. About a third were traders, 19% fund managers and 47% analysts.

Balancing Act

Moving outside of big cities and operating remotely is another consideration for financiers, the survey showed, after lockdowns fueled a wave of repatriations that saw some market professionals leave London and other capitals to work from their own countries or cheaper destinations, such as Portugal. About 54% of those asked said they would think about doing so, although only 21% said they’re willing to accept a pay cut.

That may cause a difficult balancing act based on what has happened in some other industries. Facebook Inc. has said that employees who wish to work remotely, and are approved to do so, will be paid based on their new location, meaning that those who move to areas with a lower cost of living than the Bay Area would likely take a pay cut.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the practice of working from home across all industries in Europe could double to about 30% of employees from a historical average of about 16%, with Norway, Spain and France possibly among countries seeing the biggest shifts.

Not all market professionals want to shun the office. Those who couldn’t wait to return and didn’t want to work remotely cited the need for personal interaction and exchange of ideas with clients and colleagues, as well as the presence of home distractions, such as kids or pets.

“You need the information flow, you need to hear what other traders are doing, are they screaming or are they quiet,” said Guillermo Hernandez Sampere, head of trading at asset manager MPPM EK in Eppstein, Germany. “The spirit of the floor is impossible to replicate from home.”

Home Pleasures

Others, like Investec Bank’s Julian Rimmer, a trader who lives in London, have learned to embrace remote working.

“I prefer working from home because I no longer must endure the grind of commuting and its twin afflictions of expense and inconvenience,” said Rimmer. “Set against this are the pleasures of overlooking my garden while I’m working, seeing the kids and patting my dog occasionally.”

Yet the transition isn’t always straightforward for employers. According to EY partner Seema Farazi, differences in employees’ work-from-home arrangements could exacerbate workplace inequality.

“There’s the assumption that we’re in the same position, but the realities are that a lot of people have a juggling act that they’re performing like those with small kids,” said Farazi, EY’s EMEIA people advisory Covid-19 response leader. “You’ll have some who’ll be able to spend bench time on learning and development and career enhancement and some that can’t. We could have a whole new range of risks coming in terms of inequality.”

Winds of Change

While Citigroup Inc. will gradually start bringing a portion of its staff back to its London offices over the coming weeks, some investment-bank staff have been told to expect to continue working from home. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. said it may encourage some of its staff to work remotely more often after the pandemic as a way to cut costs.

Concerns over a second wave of infections continue to have an impact on global markets. European equities rose as much as 1.6% on Friday after posting their biggest drop in more than two months on Thursday.

“I think that after this experience, more people in the financial industry will continue to adopt working from home,” said Rosanna Burcheri, a London-based fund manager at Artemis Investment Management. “Flexibility could attract new talent to the industry, at the same time increasing retention and motivation, and help to achieve better diversity, in addition to the optimization of business costs.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.