AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
_09_03_2024_01_03_36_873870.jpg)
Summary
- The Q4 2020 seems to have ended on a good note as business volumes in UK financial services improved for the first time in two years.
- The year 2020 saw a paradigm shift in the work culture as the pandemic washed up the shores of the UK.
- Most of the employers in the services-based industry encouraged remote working and announced major redundancies, according to a recent survey.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), in association with a consulting major PwC, conducted a survey in the financial services sector, which stated that business volumes had seen a spike in the Q4 2020 for the first time in two years. The survey was completed just before the third lockdown that was announced in January as UK continues to grapple with the new strain of coronavirus.
The UK has been recording a rise in the number of deaths due to newly found strain of coronavirus. With lockdown restrictions in place for the third time, the health and economic picture in UK is very grim.
The financial services sector is supposed to be handled separately by Brussels under its equivalence system as the new trade deal with the European Union, which came into effect on 1 January, does not cover financial services.
Also read: How Is the British Financial Sector Performing Amid The Coronavirus Fallout?
According to the survey, financial services are anticipating their business volumes to expand at a faster pace in the first quarter of 2021. Further job redundancies are expected this year. The pandemic-induced lockdown pushed the employers for providing remote working options and redefining their delivery models. This has led to a significant cost reduction as office spaces were redundant. The companies have reconfigured their methods to manage the deliverables.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
The ‘work from home’ culture has opened endless possibilities in this regard from an employer’s perspective. The employers can now save on travel reimbursements to employees and by cutting down on office spaces. The redefined way to conduct business in the wake of the pandemic has helped in making a certain number of jobs redundant.
Under the equivalence terms, the UK-based financial firms are expected to get restricted access to the EU markets. Therefore, many London-headquartered firms have opened their representative offices in the EU.
This implies that a lot of jobs that were destined for the UK will now move to the EU. According to the leading consultancy firm EY, more than 7,500 jobs in the financial services sector are expected to move out of the UK.
In addition, the migration of client contacts, and the movement of people into EU specific roles are yet to be done.
