The financial sector is at the bottom of the class

9. Jan 2024

5 min

In other words, the financial sector is at the bottom of the class in terms of hiring people in flex jobs. Photo: Mathias Eis

It may prove difficult to get a job in the financial sector if your working capacity is reduced.

In the second quarter of 2023, 150 people were employed in flex jobs in Denmark’s bank and mortgage credit institutions under the new flex job scheme that became effective on 1 January 2013.

This corresponds to 3.7 of 1,000 workers being employed in flex jobs, according to calculations made by Finansforbundet based on figures from the Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment and Statistics Denmark.

This places the financial sector at the bottom of the class in terms of hiring people in flex jobs.

In comparison, 6.6 of 1,000 workers were employed in flex jobs in the remaining financial sector, including insurance and pension, which employs roughly as many as banks and mortgage credit institutions. The labour market overall had 26.4 employees in flex jobs per 1,000 employees.

And it is a problem that the financial sector is lagging that far behind, finds Finansforbundet.

“I expected us to be better at creating flex jobs in the financial sector. I imagined a rather different ranking. Of course our sector must be a place where individuals can leverage their skills and talent even if they require flexibility in terms of, for example, hours to be worked. We need to fix this together with the employers,” says Steen Lund Olsen, Vice President.

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“We need a labour market that provides people with opportunities to apply their skills – even if, for whatever reason, they do not fit into the standard 37-hour working week.”

- Steen Lund Olsen, Vice President of Finansforbundet.

“We need an inclusive financial sector”

A flex job is an offer to individuals who, due to their reduced working capacity, are unable to work under normal conditions. This applies to a wide range of people, from those who have had a bicycle accident to those who have suffered stress, making them incapable of working for 37 hours a week. As a result, the expertise and skills of employees in flex jobs vary widely.

And the employers in the financial sector have a responsibility to contribute to an inclusive labour market, finds Steen Lund Olsen.

“We need a more diverse and inclusive financial sector, and this is in fact also what we hear from the employers. So this presents a clear task”. He continues:

“We need a labour market that provides people with opportunities to apply their skills – even if, for whatever reason, they do not fit into the standard 37-hour working week. We must do so for the sake of the individual person, but most certainly also because society needs it, and businesses stand to benefit from it.”

And, interestingly, flex job candidates are not in short supply. Unemployment among individuals referred to a flex job was 13 per cent in the second quarter of 2013 as compared to the general unemployment of 2.8 per cent.

Flex jobs

The job centre may grant a flex job to individuals who are incapable of getting or keeping a job under normal conditions in the labour market due to their reduced working capacity.
In a flex job, the employee’s reduced working capacity is taken into account.
A flex job is usually temporary.
When a person has been employed in a flex job for 4.5 years, the municipality must assess if they are still entitled to a flex job.
The employer only pays for the hours that the employee in a flex job works.
The municipality supplements the pay by a subsidy that is adjusted based on the income from the employer.

Source: Danish Agency for Labour Market and Recruitment

Should not be harder at a bank than on an oil rig

Thorkild Olesen, Chair of Disabled People's Organisations Denmark agrees that the number of employees working in flex jobs in the financial sector is not impressive.

“I am really surprised not to see more flex jobs,” he says.

In comparison, there are twice as many flex jobs in mining and quarrying compared to banks and mortgage credit institutions. In Thorkild Olesen’s opinion, it should not be harder to get a flex job in a bank than on an oil rig – on the contrary, it should be easier.

“It doesn’t seem logical. The financial sector ought really to be the ideal place for job adaptation, allowing for a bit more flexibility than one might have on, for example, an oil rig,” he says.

Thorkild Olesen agrees with Steen Lund Olsen that employers have a responsibility to contribute to creating more flex jobs. He encourages them to think more creatively, for example by breaking vacancies into smaller portions, so two flex job employees may share the tasks of a standard job between them.

Employers: There is a natural limit on the number of flex jobs

At Finans Danmark, representing the employers in the financial sector, Deputy Managing Director Ane Arnth Jensen finds that her organisation’s members are taking active measures to create inclusive and diverse workplaces.

“Flex job employees usually have different work functions than those predominant in the financial sector. They are usually also at a different level of education,” is the written reply by Ane Arnth Jensen. She continues:

“Financial companies and their employees are subject to numerous requirements, including having to comply with the extensive and often highly technical regulation of the sector. These requirements may present a barrier as they often necessitate a high level of education among the employees.”

The deputy managing director therefore finds that there is a natural limit on the number of employees in flex jobs in, for example, a bank.

“Especially considering that many of the traditional service trades have been outsourced. That said, it is still important that the financial sector assumes responsibility for the development on our labour market – also in inclusion matters,” writes Ane Arnth Jensen.