Women reject long-hours culture in banking - survey

Women are rejecting the long-hours culture of financial services in favour of a career path that offers more flexibility and greater autonomy, a new survey said yesterday. UK recruitment firm Hudson, which questioned women working in banking and financial services, found that more than half of them wanted to escape the conventional working day to set up new career patterns.

"They are planning to set up their own businesses, retrain work flexibly or pursue a 'portfolio' career," Hudson said, adding that the survey found that women preferred this approach to the demands of the corporate world and the long hours of the financial services industry. Hudson's survey covered 1,021 employees with a professional role or management responsibility and 500 employers. Within this total, 105 employees and 56 employers were from banking and financial services.

The survey found that 84 per cent of women in the financial services firms were disappointed with their career progress to date.

"There are a lot of policies in place to attract women but the reality is it is still a challenging environment for women in the City (of London) and financial services," said Paul Taylor, managing director at Hudson.

Employers who took part in the survey, recognised that their businesses could suffer if they failed to attract and retain women in their workforce.

Luke Archer, another Hudson director, said: "But if they want to attract and retain women, they must do more than pay lip service to flexible working arrangements".

The survey found that respondents of all ages were disenchanted with their careers and working hours and wanted more unorthodox working styles. Hudson said this suggested that it was not just working mothers who wanted greater flexibility in their careers.