City traders at JP Morgan have cited remote working as one of the biggest challenges facing them this year, in an indication that those in the financial services sector would prefer to be in the office.
According to the survey of 260 fixed-income, currencies and commodities traders conducted in December, remote working was the joint-third biggest hurdle in daily work, while about 12% cited it as the biggest challenge of all.
Trading floors have been largely closed since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving workers without their usual array of screens and real-time data used in the office.
The overnight switch to remote working was hailed as a success by many big corporates, but many are back-pedalling on statements that it could become the new normal for a majority of workers.
According to the survey, 77% of respondents said they had worked from home between March and June for an average of four days a week.
Looking forward to this year, 55% of respondents said they expected to continue working from home at the same rate. Around a fifth said the change had forced them to trade electronically more, rather than over the phone.
“This is really interesting because it is something we anecdotally know,” said Scott Wacker, head of FICC e-commerce sales at JPMorgan.
“So, if you think about that, if they are going to be working from home, then remote working capabilities, access to data, electronic trading are going to be more important and that’s what we saw in the survey.”
To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@egi.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @estatesgazette
