The persistence of remote work

The labor market turmoil that began with the start of the pandemic recovery has come to be known as the Great Resignation. Record numbers of people have quit their jobs over the past year, millions more are employed but looking, and countless others are exerting their leverage in a variety of ways amid acute labor shortages in many industries and geographic regions.

Since results over the past year have demonstrated that employees can be just as productive working from home as in a company office, and often more so, employers are acceding to worker demands.

‘FEEDBACK LOOP’

In the financial sector, Envestnet announced last week that it will be leaving its Chicago headquarters after 23 years and moving to Berwyn, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia, largely because its headquarters location has become less important in an age of remote work. 

“We have a continuous feedback loop to hear from our employees about what is important to them in the workplace,” a spokesperson for the 2,000-employee fintech company said in announcing the move. “We’ve heard they value a remote work environment and appreciate the flexibility that our hub and remote model provides.”

Envestnet’s new hub, however, will be near the headquarters of Brinker Capital, SEI and Vanguard, perhaps making CEO-level schmoozing easier.

In more traditional corners of the wealth and advisory market, a Great Resignation of a different sort has taken place over the past several months: Employers who were cajoling or hinting at ordering employees to come back to the office have thrown in the towel and are now resigned to the working-from-home model in the face of pressure from workers — even if they don’t particularly like the idea and are not fully embracing it.

UBS, for example, will allow 10% of its workers in the U.S. to work remotely soon. As Bloomberg recently reported, the giant Swiss-based bank expects 10% to 15% of its U.S. workforce will be in the office full time and more than 70% working in a mix of locations. UBS said the move is in response to the 86% of its employees who said they seek more flexibility, including remote work. The company also noted that the new flexible policy supports its diversity and inclusion efforts.

One way in which workers are flexing their muscle is by refusing to come back to the office full-time.

Morgan Stanley loosened the reins somewhat differently. It announced last month that it will allow up to 90 days of remote work a year for advisers starting in July. 

On the independent side of the advisory workforce, greater flexibility is a drawing card. One recent piece of marketing content on the LPL Financial website, in fact, essentially made the point that if an adviser wants the freedom to work from home, independence through LPL is a way to do it. Undoubtedly, other independent firms also are citing the appeal of workplace flexibility in their recruitment efforts.

Last December, we pointed to the coming permanence of remote work in the advisory business and noted the challenges that it represents in the areas of cybersecurity, compliance, training and firm culture. Those challenges continue, but in the short space of four months, remote work seems to have become an even more permanent part of our everyday lives.