Biba 2025: Gareth Southgate urges leaders to have young talent in the office

Gareth Southgate has said that he “hates the idea of young people working from home” and stressed that they “need mentoring”.

During the last keynote of the 2025 Biba Conference, the former England manager spoke to insurance leaders about how a strong office environment is better for team building and can help young employees learn from those more experienced.

This comes after data published in October 2024 suggested that financial services leaders wanted employees back in the office.

The data, published by KPMG UK, showed that 76% of financial services leaders across the UK had plans to increase office attendance in the next 12 months.

Some 37%, meanwhile, specified that they expect employees to be in the office at least four days a week.

Southgate said: “With young people, they need mentoring [and] I hate the idea of young people working from home – we would have learnt from the peers we worked with.

“A lot of leaders of businesses have been reluctant to ask people to go back to the office. But, [its] better for building a team, better for understanding your people as a leader, better for young people – especially [when it comes to] learning from others.”

Hybird working

Many firms currently use a hybrid model, with staff splitting their working hours between home and the office.

A survey of over 2,000 UK employees published by workspace expert BizSpace on 11 November 2024 revealed that 65% of respondents believed flexible working enhanced productivity, with 45% attributing this uptick to reduced time spent commuting.

However, Southgate said that “while it might appeal” to young people to work from home, there are challenges that come with it.

“Working from home – not good for the mental health of young people really,” he added.

“[Home working] might appeal to them – it appeals to me at 54, having a couple of days at home and balancing. I can go to the school play or do whatever else.

“But I don’t think quite for young people. So, there are things that they might believe are good for them, but as more experienced people we have to hold a light and say ‘actually, this is the right path for you’.

“But I think as much as possible, getting to know people, getting to know their background, their family, their home life – that’s important to me.”