Financial advisers reveal wish-list for working post pandemic

A total of 17 per cent of 771 individuals who took part in the poll expect to spend the bulk of their week in the office and no more than one day a week working remotely once they are safely able to do so.

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) stated once the government guidance to work from home if you can changes they still intend to stay away from the office for the bulk of the working week and spend at least three to four days a week remotely and only one to two days physically alongside colleagues in the office.

Just 14 per cent of financial planning professionals who took part in the Personal Finance Society’s survey stated they intend to go fully back into the office five days a week once the government guidance changes.

According to current government guidance, office workers should currently work from home if they can.

This guidance will remain in place until at least step 4 of the government’s roadmap, which is currently scheduled for no earlier than 21 June, when the work from home guidance will be considered as part of the wider review on social distancing.

Keith Richards, chief executive of the Personal Finance Society, said: “The virus broke through cultural and technological barriers that prevented greater remote working in the past. The results of this survey show the limitations and benefits of remote working have been made clear by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Clearly one size does not fit all when it comes to identifying how financial advisers wish to work once government guidance on working from home changes.

“While there is clearly an appetite for greater remote working to persist post pandemic it is interesting to note more than one in 10 want to return full-time to their office. Financial advisers must now figure out what works best remotely and what tasks require personal interaction in order to deliver the best outcomes for clients as well as their own work-life balance.”