Whilst the financial services market remained busy throughout 2022 - with both large and small firms looking to increase headcount, adding further capabilities to their Technology, Finance, Risk, Transformation, Product, and Sales functions – the year saw several overarching themes across the recruitment industry.  

1. Whilst the financial services market remained busy throughout 2022 - with
both large and small firms looking to increase headcount, adding further
capabilities to their Technology, Finance, Risk, Transformation, Product,
and Sales functions – the year saw several overarching themes across the
recruitment industry.
Unsurprisingly the impact of Covid-19 was still being felt, particularly in the shape
of hybrid working. Many organisations are seeking to bring staff back to the
office, in some cases as much as 4 days per week. This is, however, in direct
contrast to what potential employees look for in a new employer. Along with job
satisfaction and money, flexible working is right at the top of people’s key criteria
when considering a job change.
The global pandemic also caused a shortage in overseas talent in Australia,
largely due to international border closures. This created upward pressure on
salaries and day rates, something that continued well into 2022. The back end of
the year and early 2023 has seen a slight shift, as world travel continues to
open-up and talent from overseas becomes more confident in Australian borders
remaining open. Organisations will be especially glad to see the return of WHVs,
as this will help ease some of the pain when making junior and mid-level hires.
We also saw big challenges to the domestic FinTech sector, in part due to rising
interest rates and the tightening of lending. This had a knock-on affect as many
VCs chose to pull back on investments. The result being layoffs and, in some
cases, start-ups having to close their doors.
Overview.
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2. Technology.
The demand for technology resources, specifically Software
Engineering, Cyber Security and Data Analytics has grown
at a ferocious rate, with demand often outstripping supply.
In fact, the demand for Cyber Security professionals is expected
to grow by 90% over the next 12 months, Software Engineers
over 35% over the next 5 years and the demand for Data and
Analytics talent is predicted to grow by 15% year on year for the
next 5 years.
Product & Design.
Product management continues to be an extremely active
market across the Financial Services sector, major
institutions continue to drive product simplification
strategy’s and are investing heavily in transitioning into
platform style businesses. These institutions are adding a
range of additional products/ services beyond traditional banking
products, as they look to deepen the experience with customers.
Whilst UX/UI and HCD is continuing to grow within the Financial
Services market as firms shift towards a more “customer-centric”
approach in their business strategies.
| Market Update Level 5, 25 Bligh Street, Sydney Australia 2000 | +61 2 9063 1140
Overview.
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3. | Market Update Level 5, 25 Bligh Street, Sydney Australia 2000 | +61 2 9063 1140
Finance.
CFO functions have focused on increasing headcount
to bolster capability and sophistication. With the
continued increase in regulatory change, and the associated
reporting required, more analysis is required for business
decisioning due to the increasing interest rate environment
through 2022-23, and the lingering skills shortages created
by COVID-19 policies limiting the inflow of talent into the
Australian market.
Audit, Risk & Compliance.
Risk and compliance continued to be an important
focus area in 2022, as it will be in 2023. Organisations
needed to respond to the increased levels of regulation
coming downstream in addition to adapting to the increased
levels of hybrid working. As a result of businesses choosing
to enhance their capabilities in this space, we have seen
increased activity in senior roles.
Overview.
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4. | Market Update Level 5, 25 Bligh Street, Sydney Australia 2000 | +61 2 9063 1140
Transformation & Change.
A key trend for 2022 saw continued demand for project
resources, particularly candidates with remediation,
regulatory change, regulatory reporting, M&A and
digital experience. We also saw multiple organisations
continuing their investment into Agile ways of work,
therefore requiring experienced Agile professionals such as
Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters and Product Owners to help
guide them through this journey.
Sales & Marketing.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen rapid changes in
the sales landscape, with the need for sales leaders to
continually demonstrate value and leverage technology
to get ahead. Bringing together sales and marketing makes
sense – both functions are focused on revenue, and both
play a part in the customer journey from awareness, to
understanding, to action.
Overview.
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5. As the financial services industry moves into 2023, we have
cause to be optimistic around hiring trends. Head winds will
be ever present though, such as interest rate rises and the
impact on funding. There will be increased pressure on
operating costs. Further impacts of increased regulatory
scrutiny. And finally, the continued challenges presented by the
ongoing war in Ukraine.
As with all challenges there are also opportunities. Many clients
we engage with are talking about investment in new services,
capabilities and products. There is still a shortfall in local talent,
meaning organisations will continue the battle to attract and
retain the best people.
Finance teams will need to grow in reaction to the interest rate
environment as more analysis is required for business
decisioning. Technology & Cyber are still considered niche
skills and given the increased move to ‘everything digital’ along
with recent high profile cyber-attacks, organisations are crying
out for these resources. With high levels of regulation &
regulatory reporting coming down the pipe Audit, Risk &
Compliance will remain a key area of investment.
Outlook.
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6. The mortgages industry will face some interesting
challenges throughout the year, including refinancing
volumes and the digitisation of the home loan process, as
such we see hiring continue to grow in this domain
particularly for Product Managers and UX/UI professionals.
Continuing the digital theme, as organisations further drive
customer engagement through digital channels, along with
transitioning to a digital workforce, they are increasingly
adopting agile ways of working. This will see many businesses
add Agile Coaches, Product Owners and Scrum Masters to their
workforce, meaning our Transformation & Change practice
expects to remain busy through 2023. We see no let-up in
providing traditional Project resources such as Business
Analysts, Project Managers and Change Management
capability.
Finally, with the continued growth of e-commerce, digital
marketing and CX there will be requirements for high skilled
Sales & Marketing professionals across our large enterprise
clients.
| Market Update Level 5, 25 Bligh Street, Sydney Australia 2000 | +61 2 9063 1140
Outlook.
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