Businesses across Ireland are struggling to marry the wishes of senior leadership to have staff in-office with employees’ hopes of hanging on to the privileges of remote working. But no sector has been as successful in continuously making headlines as it struggles to overcome these HR hurdles as Ireland’s banks.
On Friday, Bank of Ireland revealed plans to open four additional hybrid working hubs – in Letterkenny, Tralee, Tullamore and Wexford. A further hub is due to open next month in Sligo, bringing the total number to 20 across the State.
The sites are expected to come on stream early next year with the bank saying that most employees are now able to work “from a combination of home, 12 office locations, and our hybrid working hubs”.
The move comes amid an ongoing industrial relations battle between Bank of Ireland and the Financial Services Union (FSU).
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Over the summer, both of the State’s two biggest banks, Bank of Ireland and AIB, announced they would be increasing the number of days that hybrid workers would be required to attend their office.
Bank of Ireland wanted hybrid workers on-site at least eight times a month. Following negotiations, the FSU issued a directive to their members in the bank to continue with current working practices.
The union then referred the bank to the Workplace Relations Commission in August, saying at the time that it had been left with “no option” following “intransigence” by the bank. Talks at the WRC are understood to be ongoing.
Staff in the bank consider the announcement of new hubs to be a victory won by their ongoing pressure on management and amid complaints of a lack of capacity at the hubs.
Bank of Ireland is framing it as a continuation of its plans to “invest in flexible working because it works – for our colleagues, for our business, and for the communities we serve”, according to its chief people officer, Matt Elliott.
The secret as to the why may be hidden deeper into their announcement: to “attract and retain talent”.
With two of the State’s biggest employers struggling to keep staff happy on this issue, the one thing you can bank on is that the issue of hybrid working arrangements will continue to be contentious – pun intended.
