Where the skills shortages are in financial services
According to an article in today's Financial Times, skills shortages remain an issue in the financial sphere. This is despite research by the likes of Morgan McKinley showing that new candidates outnumbered new jobs by 2.3 to one in July.
The FT says the skills shortages apply specifically to risk and compliance officers, insurance underwriters, and claims and business development specialists. Recruiters say this is mostly true.
Gail Danvers, managing consultant at PSD Group, says there are definite skills shortages in quantitative risk management, mostly because the jobs are very specific and skills aren't often transferable. "There aren't suddenly people with these skills on the market just because of the recession," she says.
Phil Bainbridge, an insurance partner at Odgers Berndtson, says there are also skills shortages in the insurance roles specified by the FT, as well as insurance risk and compliance. "There are also issues around the quality of talent in some parts of the insurance sector," he says.
However, Marnie Woolf at compliance recruiters Woolf & Co. says there aren't really any skills shortages in compliance.
"I am seeing very, very good people struggling to find the right opportunity - people who could have had their pick of three or four roles two years ago," she says. "In the past, there were always talent shortages for compliance staff in fixed income and fund management. It's possible that demand may come back next year. However, compliance hiring lags the front office by around 12 months."
