BELFAST and Derry-based financial services company FinTrU has confirmed it has created 200 new jobs since introduction of Covid-19 restrictions in March.
The fast-growing firm, which works with investment banks across the globe, has now hit 600 staff, with 700 now likely by the end of the year.
The company sent all its staff home in mid-March, with 98 per cent still working remotely in October.
FinTrU’s chief human resources officer, Sinead Carville, said the firm doesn’t expect a meaningful return to the office before the spring.
She said even when larger numbers begin to return, the company will likely adopt a permanent hybrid model of working.
“This is something people have been doing for seven or eight months and we’re anticipating the majority of people to be at home until at least the springtime,” she said.
“Then you’re talking about a full year, so I think it becomes exceptionally difficult for employers to say this doesn’t work, when we’ve proven it works exceptionally well.
“Our productivity is up, our absenteeism is down, everything is going really well.”
The chief HR officer acknowledged there were some drawbacks from home working, particularly around the on-the-job learning for new graduates joining the company, but she said even among that demographic, there’s an appetite for flexibility.
“In the main, the majority of people would like to retain flexibility. I think what most people want is a hybrid working model in the future, whereby they can work from home potentially three days a week and they go into the office two days, or vice-versa.
“The whole world has changed, I think everybody has become much more au fait with this kind of digital way of working, that probably would have taken years for most organisations to get to.
“A lot of people have felt that the Covid situation has forced them to slow down, reconnect, re-evaluate. We want to be part of being able to help people maintain that.”
Joining the firm in October 2016 when FinTrU’s workforce stood at just 60, Ms Carville has overseen the recruitment of 540 staff in the past four years.
In June 2018, the company announced a £38 million expansion plan to create 605 jobs over five years in Belfast and a new Derry operation.
FinTrU is on course to recruit 75 per cent of the 605 planned jobs within two-and-a-half years.
Some 150 jobs have already been created in Derry, largely through assured skills academies.
The chief HR officer said the company remains committed to Derry city and revealed the pandemic had actually helped the firm recruit for more senior roles.
“Despite the pandemic we have turned the dial up in the speed we have been recruiting," she said.
“There are a lot of people who have been commuting to Belfast or further afield for years and years, and they’re now working from home. They have that better balance and they want to remain working in the north west.”
Using video-link to conduct remote job interviews is also something FinTrU may retain, with the digital process suiting many applicants already employed elsewhere.
“We’ve found that really enlightening and it’s definitely something I will look to keep in our recruitment process.
“What we want to do as an organisation, is not just see what happens, and what the workplace of the future looks like post-Covid,” added Ms Carville, “We want to be part of designing it.”
