Skills shortage in finance as sector grows

Up to 9,000 specialist jobs to be created by 2027 as digitalisation picks up pace

The sector is looking to buy in – or build – skills across a range of topics, from crypto and blockchain to regulatory compliance.

The skills shortage in the tech sector may appear to have moderated somewhat thanks to post pandemic layoffs, but that doesn’t mean it is any easier to find the highly specialised tech skills required by the financial services sector. Much work is needed to ensure it has the talent pipeline required to fuel its continued growth.

According to the recently published Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report, which looks at the skills needed for international financial services, the sector will need to recruit between 6,000 and 9,000 between now and 2027.

Unless some serious skills building takes place, this could result in an estimated skills gap in the sector of more than 4,000 people, if the stronger growth scenario outlined in the report is realised.

It’s something the Government’s Ireland for Finance Action Plans already address. Each of these has outlined a range of specialist educational and training programmes that needs to be developed or delivered for the international financial services industry, including programmes in sustainable finance regulation and master’s-level programmes in blockchain, fintech, and compliance, among others.

To support digitalisation in the sector, it is now seen as essential that new staff are trained in data science and coding, and that upskilling is provided to existing workforces. There is also a need to build skills for automation and AI.

While there were layoffs in the tech sector over the past two years, Donna Noonan, Financial Services Ireland Skillnet network manager at Ibec, points out that most were in areas such as human resources and marketing, meaning hard tech skills are as in demand as ever.

What has changed however is a shift in employee mindset, which could stand to benefit financial services.

“Tech is now seen as a less safe bet,” she says. Whereas before it was “new and shiny”, now people are more likely to think that financial services offers a more secure future, she reckons.

“We’re getting better at showing just how many interesting roles there are in the sector, that it’s not about being a teller in a bank anymore. With fintech and AI and all that is going on there, people can come in and forge a really super interesting career,” she adds.

This range of opportunities means the sector is looking to buy in – or build – skills across a range of topics, from crypto and blockchain, to regulatory compliance, cyber risk, and environmental, social and governance practices. Very many of the latter are highly transferable, enabling those who have them to move into financial services with ease.

The financial services sector is also one that invests in continuous training and development of its people, which also appeals to those looking to build a career.

Skillnet specialises in workforce training and the IFS Skillnet provides a range of programmes to its industry members, from half-day instructor-led bespoke interventions right through to master’s programmes.

“Developing their people is something that companies in this sector are increasingly recognising as being super important. There is an understanding that they have to invest more in it in terms of a retention too,” she says.

Training and development isn’t just for new entrants either. Right now internal skills building is seen as particularly important at mid- to senior career level too, she points out, to ensure organisations have enough specialists with in depth knowledge of the sector in house.

“Having that institutional knowledge is really important because you can train additional skills on top of that,” she adds.

Having this kind of learning culture makes an organisation more attractive both from an employee attraction and retention perspective, she points out, because it opens up the directions in which your career can go, within an organisation which supports you while you do it.

That meets a need that is increasingly prevalent among today’s job candidates.

“People are going in to interviews a lot more curious now. They are really asking questions about what their prospects are going to be in the organisation. Is there potential to move up – and is there learning and development to support that?” says Noonan.