Top five 2017 recruitment trends in financial markets

As a new year starts we look at the top five recruitment trends to watch in the financial sector in 2017 globally:

1. Technology

Digital transformation shows no sign of abating and the financial sector is at a crossroads with the introduction of more and more disruptive technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), the Cloud, blockchains and more.

Advanced technology is changing the way business is conducted but also how people on the street interact with banks and invest in the markets. This is providing a fertile ground for Fintech, which continues to eat market share from more established institutions. More than US$50 billion has been invested in almost 2,500 companies since 2010 according to Accenture, which, in a recent report said global investment in the financial technology sector in the first quarter of 2016 only increased 67% over the same period last year.

As digitalisation spreads, so do companies’ supervisory expectations and need for further risk control. Cyber resilience will become a top priority for financial services firms and more detailed planning for firms’ responses to scenarios such as cyber breaches and technological failures will be encouraged (Deloitte). Therefore information technology engineers and security officers will be, once again, very much in demand in 2017.

2. Uncertainty

As a new president takes office in the US, preparations get underway in Britain for “Brexit” – an exit from the European Union that is unlikely to be a smooth process – and general elections taking place in Europe: geopolitics could make for a turbulent ride across the financial sector this year. Furthermore, on the monetary policy front, the gradual easing of quantitative easing (QE) in many economies in the coming years, led by the Federal Reserves in the United States, will do little to improve visibility. Volatility, in 2017, becomes the “New Normal”.

3. Agility

As a new president takes office in the US, preparations get underway in Britain for “Brexit” and general elections take place in Europe, geopolitics could make for a turbulent ride across the financial sector this year.  Business organisations want real “Change Managers” – candidates who are adaptable and can work across technology, process and cultural change, with a particular focus on digital offerings, as well as managing regulatory change. Good soft skills are more and more in demand than ever. Yet a recent LinkedIn survey of 291 hiring managers in the U.S. revealed that 59% of them believe that soft skills are difficult to find. The five most in-demand soft skills according to them are communication (57.9%), followed by organisation (56.5%), teamwork (56.4%), always being punctual (55.9%) and critical thinking (55.8%).

4. Regulation

Regulatory change is, yet again, high up on the agenda. “Firms are further challenged by continuing uncertainty over the final shape of post-crisis financial regulation,” notes Deloitte in a recent report on regulations in the sector in 2017. While regulators are keen to preserve the hard-won reforms of recent years, rising political uncertainty in developed economies has increased the volatility and hence unpredictability of the macro-policy environment. Pressure from regulators will lead to new roles within banking risk operations. For employers, the implementation of regulatory controls will have a direct impact on many areas such as Operations, Risk, Tax, Legal, Treasury, all Front Office jobs, Compliance and Finance etc. Furthermore, they will consider oversees experience a real benefit, particularly if a candidate has worked in parts of the world like the UK, Europe or Asia where regulatory reforms have already been implemented.

5. Shortage of skills

The problem will be more acute in some parts of the world than others. In Australia, our colleagues report that scarcity of professionally qualified financial advisers will be a persistent problem facing the advice sector over the next couple of years due to the proposed legislation to raise education requirements and professional standards. “This will continue to be compounded by the number of financial advice remediation projects requiring experienced candidates,” they say. Due to a buoyant lending market Quantitative Risk Analysts/Modellers, particularly in credit risk will be in demand. Meanwhile, all over the world, ongoing digitalisation means that key IT roles such as coders, programmers, developers, security and information officers will be very sought after, as well as IoT and Big Data specialists like data analysts and scientists.

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Author

Geoff Fawcett

Director, Hays UK

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Geoff Fawcett has been in the recruitment industry for over 16 years. He is currently responsible for Hays Financial Markets, which provides an integrated recruitment solution to London based Banking & Financial Services organisations. Specialist divisions include Finance, Operations, HR, Marketing, Purchasing, Secretarial, Risk & Compliance, Front Office, Finance Technology and Executive with in excess of 100 consultants.