Starling Bank's hybrid cutback: accused of treating staff "like subservient children"
Bringing employees back into the office has been on the agenda for multiple major fintechs. The latest to do so is Starling Bank, and its staff aren't happy.
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Starling now demands that its hybrid staff work in the office 50% of the time, despite the fact that, according to the Guardian, the fintech has more than three times as many employees as it has in-office desks. Employees have been resigning because of it; one of the most popular posts on Starling's internal Slack said the change was "rammed down everyone's throats." One of the most scathing criticisms said new CEO Raman Bhatia is creating a "bland grey corporate hellscape filled with dead-eyed zombies who care about nothing more than doing the bare minimum, clocking off and collecting a paycheque."
Employees have also been critical on public channels. Multiple reviews on Glassdoor have said the fintech treats its staff like "subservient children." Others have said the RTO mandate has caused "complete dismay." A review on forum Blind says the mandate was handled with "horrific execution and communication," and that "company morale couldn't get lower." One software engineer, prior to the shift, also criticized a "culture of working late" at Starling.
Not all are unhappy though. Writing publicly, one fraud prevention associate says Starling has "amazing offices." Another, praises the "atmosphere" and "independence" in the Southampton office. Another Southampton-based employee seemingly in support of the change says Starling's remote workers are at risk of taking it "too easy" and "lacking effort."
Reviews state that the office provides free soft drinks, free fruit, breakfast on Mondays and, occasionally, pizza. However, there are complaints that there are "limited snack options" available.
In a statement, Starling Bank has said the purpose of the policy change is "to achieve greater collaboration that will benefit our customers", and to allow people managers to provide "additional support to colleagues with wellbeing and other personal needs." It stresses that those working fully remotely are not having their situations changed.
Checkout.com was even more aggressive with its mandate back in February, demanding staff come into the office three days per week. Employees, who were told they could leave if they didn't like it, were initially critical but seem to have come around. Recent reviews at Checkout say they are "shocked at how great the culture is" and that "coming to the office something to look forward to." Others have said the change "lends itself well to a collaborative environment." One software engineer at Checkout, however, has said that support for work-life balance is "lacking a lot." Another, who praised the office environment, criticized the strictness of the RTO policy, saying it should treat its staff "like adults."
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