February 21, 2025
The workplace landscape has shifted once again. As revealed in the iGB Pentasia Salary Survey 2024, fully remote roles are becoming less common outside of tech and data functions, with hybrid work now the standard for most departments. While this trend reflects a return to in-person collaboration, it also underscores the importance of flexibility in attracting and retaining talent. For HR leaders and C-suite executives in iGaming, this evolution presents a series of challenges and opportunities, requiring thoughtful strategies to align business needs with employee expectations.
Let’s explore the implications of this shift and what it means for talent acquisition, retention, and operational success in today’s competitive market.
Talent Acquisition and Retention: Flexibility Remains a Priority
The preference for flexibility hasn’t gone away. While hybrid work models offer a middle ground, companies mandating full-time office work face significant hurdles in attracting talent. This is particularly true in competitive fields like tech, where fully remote roles remain highly sought after. For other departments, hybrid arrangements—allowing a balance of in-office and remote work—are increasingly seen as the norm.
To attract and retain top talent, it’s essential to understand the nuances of these preferences. Some candidates may value the opportunity for face-to-face collaboration, while others prioritise the autonomy of remote work. By tailoring your approach to meet these expectations, you can create a more compelling proposition for prospective hires.
Understanding the broader iGaming talent market, including how other industries like eCommerce or Payments are adapting, is also critical. Enterprise human capital providers can offer valuable insights into these trends, helping you refine your strategies to remain competitive.
Employee Morale and Productivity: Striking the Right Balance
Mandatory in-office policies can significantly impact employee morale and productivity. While some professionals thrive in a collaborative office environment, others may view rigid requirements as a step backward, leading to frustration or disengagement. The key is to strike a balance—nurturing in-person interaction while preserving the flexibility that has become a cornerstone of modern work.
Encouraging open communication about preferences and challenges can help employees feel valued and included in decisions about their work environment. Additionally, adopting policies that empower teams to set their own hybrid schedules can boost satisfaction and productivity, ensuring that the benefits of both remote and in-office work are realised.
Company Culture: Building Community Across Locations
A strong company culture is essential for engagement, retention, and innovation. However, maintaining this culture becomes more complex when employees are working in different locations and on varying schedules. Hybrid work models require intentional efforts to create a sense of community and shared purpose.
This means going beyond traditional team-building exercises. Regular all-hands meetings, virtual social events, and in-person gatherings can help maintain cohesion and ensure employees feel connected to the broader organisation. Clear communication of company values and goals is equally important, providing a unifying thread that ties employees together, regardless of where or how they work.
Cost Implications: Balancing Budgets and Space
Mandating in-office work can lead to increased costs, from expanded office space requirements to higher operational expenses. At the same time, rigid policies risk driving employee turnover, adding to recruitment costs and potentially impacting productivity during transitions.
Taking a data-driven approach to workforce planning can help you balance these costs. For example, hybrid models that allow for flexible use of office space can reduce overheads while still supporting in-person collaboration. Understanding employee preferences and aligning your policies accordingly can also minimise turnover, protecting both your budget and your workforce.
Legal and Regulatory Considerations: Staying Compliant
Implementing in-office policies isn’t just a matter of logistics—it also involves navigating legal and regulatory frameworks. In some jurisdictions, remote work has become a protected right, while others impose specific requirements for hybrid arrangements. For example, the EU Work-Life Balance Directive, Flexible Work Act in the Netherlands, and Brazil’s Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) was updated to include remote work regulations.
Understanding these frameworks not only ensures compliance but also supports the smoother implementation of hybrid policies across global offices by providing clear guidelines for adapting to regional labour laws, managing employee expectations, and standardising practices in a way that aligns with local requirements.
Diversity and Inclusion: Maintaining Momentum
Hybrid and in-office policies can inadvertently create barriers for certain groups of employees, such as those with disabilities, caregiving responsibilities, or long commutes. To ensure that your return-to-office strategies support diversity and inclusion, it’s crucial to build flexibility into your approach.
Providing accommodations, such as remote work options or flexible hours, helps ensure that all employees have an equitable opportunity to succeed. These efforts not only build a more inclusive workplace but also strengthen your organisation’s ability to attract and retain a diverse talent pool.
The Path Forward: Flexibility as a Strategic Advantage
As hybrid work becomes the norm, flexibility will remain a key differentiator in the competition for talent. By aligning your workplace policies with employee preferences, strengthening collaboration and culture, and addressing operational and regulatory considerations, you can create an environment where employees thrive.
At Pentasia, we’ve worked with organisations across the iGaming sector to navigate these changes successfully. From RPO solutions to strategic talent consulting, our expertise can help you adapt to the evolving landscape while staying focused on your strategic goals.
Please get in touch to discover how we can help your organisation adapt long-term to the hybrid work landscape and secure the talent that drives success.