NAFCU Journal September October 2021

10 THE NAFCU JOURNAL September–October 2021 CREDIT UNIONS AND REMOTE WORK By Curt Long THE BOTTOM LINE T he labor market has been a roller coaster ride in 2021, presenting a litany of challenges for employers. At various times, worker scarcity, wage pressures, COVID variants, vaccination protocols, and the resump- tion of in-office work have featured prominently. One key issue with poten- tially greater long-term significance than any of those is adoption of remote work policies. In May, NAFCU asked members about their plans for remote work post- COVID. The results align broadly with the direction other industries appear to be taking, but nevertheless reflect a radical shift in pre-COVID practices and point to more disruption ahead. NAFCU’s survey asked members about the extent to which their non-branch staff worked from home (WFH) prior to COVID, as well as their plans after COVID. The results suggest that remote work was very rare across the industry before 2020. This was true for both small and large credit unions alike. However, respondents indicated that much of the seismic shift in WFH adoption necessi- tated by COVID is here to stay. Further- more, adoption is much greater among large credit unions, where an average of more than two staff work-days per week are expected to be performed remotely post-COVID, versus smaller credit unions, where that number drops to about 0.7 days per week. The NAFCU survey also asked about pros and cons of remote work. Predict- ably, the list of perceived benefits was topped by staff flexibility, followed by staff satisfaction. The biggest down- sides to remote work were its impact on organizational culture, followed by the This is the final entry in a three-part series that looks at the future of remote work. Part I focused on the outlook for overall adoption. Part II considered the impact of remote work on the residential real estate market. Average WFH Days/Week for Non-Branch Staff by Asset Class Pre-COVID Post-COVID Days/wk < $250M $250M–$1B Credit Union Assests Source: NAFCU State of the Industry Survery $1B+ 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0