Micheal Doherty is a long-standing employee of Emerald. He specialises in the Actuarial & Insurance sector. Starting in 1998, Mike has worked in the UK, US, Hong Kong and Singapore, operating almost exclusively within actuarial markets both as an active consultant and a manager of successful recruitment teams.
“Well, it seems a long time ago now that we were all up early, enduring the daily commutes, working all day in busy offices and lunching merrily with our colleagues. A fairly normal routine of working life. Frequenting the bars, gyms & restaurants after work seems a distant memory”.
What has changed for you since the first lockdown?
Several months down the line from the big lockdown, it is very interesting to see how people have adapted to the long-term working from home situation, the so-called ‘new normal’ routine.
My team members and I spend most of our day chatting to non-life actuaries at all levels and working from home is obviously a subject that comes up a lot. In general, most people seem to have adapted very well- after perhaps some initial shock and uncertainty at having to work entirely from home- and the prevailing view seems to be that working from home, for part of the week at least, is both desirable and productive.
What do your candidates think of this?
Being able to cut out both the financial expense and time associated with the daily commute is probably the number one benefit for most people. The time saved in particular, for many people, converts into more of a work/life balance in general and, for many others, it allows more time for family focus specifically.
It seems that when asked about an ‘ideal’ scenario, even post-Covid-19, many people would like to work 2 days a week from home at least. Given that the situation is likely to persist until late 2021, it is a good job that the majority seems to view some working from home in a largely positive light.
What are the complications?
It is worth mentioning that many people, especially newer staff members, do still view the office as an important setting for networking, team-morale, social development and key interactions with colleagues and clients in general.
It is also very noticeable that most actuarial employers don’t seem to be in a hurry to get their employees back into the office anyway, with some firms dramatically reducing their existing office space since the March 2020 lockdown – at least until they can negotiate their next good rental deal. The IT infrastructure has seemingly held up very well and most people appear to have had enough residential bandwidth to cope with their usual work requirements.
Presumably, if people are at least as productive at home, would most CEOs want to continue to pay huge City office rents? Doubtful. It would also be quite feasible that someone who has worked from home, at least as productively as in the office, for almost a year, would be able to continue to do so with their employer’s blessing.
So, what might we expect in the future, post-Covid?
Working from home did exist to some extent with many GI actuarial employers before the pandemic arrived of course and I think it’s a fair assumption that the foreseeable future is going to see the extension of WFH arrangements as long as people remain as equivalently productive as they are in an office setting. It is quite hard to imagine, after such an extended period of working from home, that the 5 days a week in an office ‘norm’ is going to return in quite the same way even in the long-term but only time will tell.
Edit: Remote working is now a likely option for the remainder of 2021. If you’re seeking a new role in the actuarial market, you can get in touch with Michael today: https://www.emerald-group.com/team/michael-doherty/