Financial services CEOs bullish about recruitment

Jo Faragher

More than half of financial services CEOS plan to take on extra staff this year, according to global research by consulting company PwC.

The report, Remoulding your workforce for a new marketplace, reveals that most senior leaders are looking to add at least five per cent to their headcount.

It is PwC’s 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, based on responses from 338 financial services CEOs in 53 countries and in-depth interviews.

Kevin Burrowes, PwC’s UK financial services leader, said: “Optimism has increased as the recovery in the UK picks up pace and confidence in the financial services sector rises.”

Not all of the findings were positive, however. The research revealed that nearly 60% of CEOs see the limited availability of skills as a potential barrier to growth, and only a quarter of respondents have initiated changes to their talent strategy to accommodate that. Only a third feel that their HR team is well prepared to make the necessary changes. 

Burrowes added: “The kind of talent organisations need, where they recruit them from, and how they manage them will be different from the last surge in recruitment and growth. The influence of increased financial services regulation is also becoming clearer in hiring decisions, and we are seeing companies ramp up employment of compliance officers at a rate we have not seen before.”

More than half (53%) of the CEOs questioned by PwC said that regulation was making it harder to attract a skilled workforce. The report also highlighted how younger financial services professionals are keen to move around and that employers will have to tailor how they engage staff – only 10% of millennials plan to stay in their current role for the long term.

Jon Terry, global financial services HR consulting leader, said: “Financial services organisations need to start communicating their brand more widely – including to people from government, industry and technology companies.”

“HR has to be at the forefront of these changes – judging what skillset will be needed, developing new ways to engage and motivate people, and supervising the transition to real-time performance monitoring and response.”