Cyber breaches "greatest staff-related risk" for finance firms

Friday 19 November 2021

Cyber security breaches are overwhelmingly the greatest staff-related risk for a financial services business, according to a survey of Channel Island employers.

Employers surveyed at Walkers' three-day virtual employment law conference also revealed that over three-quarters of businesses had “significantly” changed their employment policies as a result of the impact of covid.

The results are among the findings of polls of senior HR professionals and business leaders at the conference, titled ‘Equipping the Board: Using Employment Law Tools to Navigate Risks and Drive Success’, which was held in October.

The conference focused on employment law tools for boards and senior managers, included a pre-recorded warm-up session and three live webinars on good governance, regulatory expectations and future-proofing your business.

The key findings of the survey include:

• 70% see a cyber-security breach as the greatest staff-related risk for a regulated financial services business – way ahead of employees leaving (16%) and employees working from home (10%)
• 57% of employers said covid-19 has changed their policies, procedures and systems "moderately". In contrast many fewer have updated their contractual employment documentation with 81% not having made changes to their employment contracts as a result of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic
• In terms of recruiting staff, 87% of employers had been asked by candidates about work life balance and 70% about hybrid working when recruiting
• 56% of employers surveyed are currently finding it significantly more difficult recruiting candidates for the roles available within their organisation

Daniel Read, Senior Counsel in Walkers’ Jersey employment law team, said: “The experience of the past two years has clearly changed attitudes to working from home among both employers and employees. 

“It is interesting to see that so few employers see it as a major staff-related risk. The real point to note is that so many employees are raising hybrid-working arrangements during the interview process – those results in particular would have been very different pre-pandemic."

Pictured top: Sarah Ash, Daniel Read and Victoria Pratt of Walkers.