Leo Varadkar TD, the Tánaiste and minister for enterprise, trade and employment in the Irish government, has launched 11 remote working hubs in Ballycoolin, Dublin as part of the Bank of Ireland’s Hybrid working model which was developed in partnership with Bank of Ireland staff.
Dependent on their role, this policy will allow Bank of Ireland employees to work from a combination of home, central offices, and the new hubs. In addition to the 11 hubs in and around Dublin, a further three will be launched in Cork, Galway and Limerick later this year. Remote hub locations were selected based on suitability of the property and the best geographical match to where employees stated they would like to work.
According to a Bank of Ireland Colleague survey, conducted in June 2022, 65% of those surveyed feel enhanced flexibility is providing more time with their families. Additionally, 54% reported saving money due to the model, and 26% felt they had more flexibility over where they could live. Furthermore, 29% of staff reduced their daily commute by over two hours when working from home or the hub.
A further two surveys were conducted in May and December 2020 to understand employee preference and trends. More than three quarters (77%) of employees expressed a preference to work from home between 25% and 75% of their working week.
Varadkar commented: “The Government is legislating to give employees the right to request flexible and remote working. Many employers went to great lengths during the pandemic to give their employees as much flexibility around where they work as possible. Done well, remote and hybrid working is a win-win for companies and their employees and I’m delighted to see Bank of Ireland at the forefront of rethinking the traditional office model in this way.”
Bank of Ireland group CEO, Francesca McDonagh, said: “Our new hybrid working model is a real break with the old way of doing things in terms of how and where we work. The opening of three new hubs in major regional centres means more opportunities to attract talent from locations around Ireland. For our colleagues, the hybrid model offers enhanced flexibility and choice, blending home and office working with less time and money spent on commuting and a better work-life balance.”
The Bank has put in place a wide range of supports for colleagues working from home, which include providing equipment to meet safety and ergonomic requirements and ongoing investment in digital solutions to enable greater team collaboration.