City life balanced against having a life
British investment bankers and other financial services employees are turning their backs on the profession's long hours culture in favour of a better quality of life, according to new research. One in two bankers are now choosing to work for employers who offer the most balanced lifestyle, potentially creating a talent drought in financial services, Hudson, the recruitment consultancy, found in a survey published yesterday.
“It's no secret that banking and financial services has always been a 'long hours' culture and, to a degree, that goes with the territory and financial rewards,” said Luke Archer, director at Hudson.
“However, it is clear now that employees are becoming tired of the 'all work and no play' mentality typical of the industry, which poses a real problem to employers and the available talent pool,” he added.
The change in bankers' attitudes towards their careers means that almost two-thirds will now choose the employer who offers the best career to suit their needs, compared with just over half who will choose their work depending on who offers the most competitive package.
As a result, some bankers are choosing to turn to more “caring professions”. According to a separate study for the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) showed that almost one in four new maths teachers used to work in banking or accountancy.
Others expect to change careers several times, with 61 per cent becoming “serial careerists”, gaining experience from a number of different business sectors and working disciplines.
But some bankers remain optimistic that the industry will eventually change., with almost half believing that a fair balance between work and life can be achieved.
“We are increasingly in a candidate-driven market for talent, and employers need to heed candidates' calls for a more flexible, democratic workplace,” Mr Archer cautioned.
英国银行家厌倦“只工作没休息”
一项新调查显示，英国投资银行业者家和其他金融服务业雇员正在摒弃长时间工作的行业文化，而偏向于更好的生活质量。现在，每两名银行业者中，就有一人在选择为那些提供更平衡生活方式的雇主工作，这可能造成金融服务业人才的短缺。招聘咨询公司哈德森(Hudson)在昨天公布的这份调查中披露了上述现象。
“银行和金融服务业一直有一种‘长时间’工作的文化，这不是什么秘密。在一定程度上，这与职权和财务回报成正比，”哈德森公司董事卢克?阿彻(Luke Archer)说。
“但很明显的是，现在员工们正厌倦该行业‘只工作没休息’的典型信条，这一点给雇主们和可用人才库带来了一个真正的问题，”他补充说。
银行业者对他们事业态度的变化意味着，现在几乎有三分之二的人将会选择提供最佳职业生涯的雇主，来满足他们的需求。相比之下，仅有略超过半数的人会根据薪资待遇来选择工作。
结果，一些银行业者选择跳槽到更“人性化的职业”。对教师培训局(Teacher Training Agency)的一项单独研究表明，在新的数学教师中，几乎每四人中就有一位曾在银行业或会计师事务所工作过。
其他人期望多次改变他们的事业，其中61%的人想成为 “系列职业者”，从许多不同的企业部门和职业类别获得经验。
但一些银行业者仍持乐观态度，认为该行业最终会发生变化，其中将近半数人相信，工作和生活之间的合理平衡是能够达到的。
“我们日益置身于一个求职者推动的人才市场，雇主需要留意求职者的呼吁，即更加灵活和民主的工作场所，” 阿彻先生提醒道。
