In 2025, WesBanco in Wheeling, West Virginia, was expanding. It acquired another bank and saw its legacy markets growing too.
“Suddenly, I had 10 open positions,” says Kim Griffith, senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer at the $27.5 billion-asset community bank. “It’s not an easy skill set to find.”
At the same time, a few competitors and larger banks announced they were ending hybrid and remote work arrangements, forcing everyone back into the office full time.
“We started to get pings on [our] postings,” she says, because WesBanco continues to offer remote and hybrid work options.
Remote work has become a competitive benefit for community banks when it comes to hiring. Not every position can be done from a remote or hybrid setup, but many can, and some community banks are using flexible work arrangements to attract and retain talent.
While it takes extra steps to make sure banks are compliant and secure, it can be worth it to expand the potential talent pool.
More candidates, more choice
Dart Bank in Mason, Michigan, started offering hybrid and remote work options in 2019—before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the issue—because it saw the value of offering employees that kind of flexibility.
It stuck. Not only do workers like it; the bank can also recruit candidates from all over the country, says Erica Johnson, executive vice president and human resources director at the $1.3 billion-asset community bank.
It’s helped Dart Bank grow: The bank now has employees based in 33 states, with 30% in a hybrid work arrangement and more than 50% working remotely. It’s also been adding to its head count for the past four years, including an all-time high of 114 new employees hired in 2025.
At WesBanco, about 40% of the non-retail banking workforce is fully remote, and about 30% are in a hybrid arrangement. The community bank also uses flexible work as a recruitment tool, says Griffith, allowing it to expand its talent pool both geographically and demographically. For example, positions at the bank are likely to be more attractive to parents with young children, especially if both parents work—even if the salary is lower than at a competing national bank.
“You’re going to stay in a role, and we’re going to be able to retain you versus you making [3% to] 8% more [for entry and mid-level roles] and having to go into the office every day,” Griffith says.
Keeping a workforce engaged, wherever they are
Not everyone is going to be eligible for a non-office work arrangement. Teller work is one job that can’t really be done remotely, for example.
For those employees who work out of the office part- or full-time, Johnson says keeping everyone engaged comes down to strong communication and leadership visibility, which can easily be attained through both in-person and virtual meetings. “Our team has gotten very accustomed to that remote culture and ... purposeful collaboration,” she says.
Such arrangements are fluid, too, with workers providing input on whether arrangements are working. For example, at WesBanco, the 300-strong lending team went back into the office, a decision made by leadership and members.
“Team leaders really recognized the long-term success of those lending teams relies heavily on team engagement and real-time collaboration,” says Griffith, adding that it allows people in different positions to join forces more effectively on deals and celebrate their wins.
Maintaining compliance—and cybersecurity
Having employees spread out across the country provides a competitive advantage, but it brings new concerns. That includes complying with every state’s labor and employment laws.
WesBanco limits its remote talent pool to the 10 states where it already has a footprint. The community bank also works with external and internal audit partners and bank partners to make sure it is in compliance with the laws in those states.
If Dart Bank hires someone in a state where it doesn’t already have an employee, it may work with legal counsel to see what it needs to do. The same is true if it needs to terminate an employee in a state in which it hasn’t terminated someone before.
Having remote employees also potentially increases cybersecurity risk. That’s because every worker who is not in the office expands the threat landscape.
“If everyone worked within the four walls of your branch, there’s a really good comfort level of where data might go,” says Clay Carter, chief information security officer at governance, risk and compliance software provider at Ncontracts in Nashville, Tennessee. But that’s not the case for a hybrid or remote workforce. “It’s not that we don’t trust employees, but anytime you don’t control [or have visibility into a] network, you don’t know what’s there.”
Carter doesn’t think this should stop community banks from enabling flexible work arrangements. “Being able to access talent across different markets is such an advantage for competitiveness,” he says. It just takes a little more work to keep that advantage while protecting the bank.