Firms must act now to become skills-based, or risk a deepening workforce crisis

• Firms in the financial services sector must rapidly embrace a skills-based approach, if they are to mitigate the challenges posed by the industry’s increasing skills gap.
• The sector’s skills body launches the first compressive guide for financial services firms, enabling the transition to a skills-based approach.
• This approach could contribute an addition £555.6m to the UK economy, per year.

Firms in the financial services industry must rapidly transition to a skill-based approach if they are to build a workforce ready for the future, while also mitigating the difficulties posed by a growing skills gap, the chair of the sector’s skills body has today cautioned.

Speaking at the launch of the sector’s new framework for skill-based organisations, Mark Hoban, chair of the Financial Services Skills Commission, urged an audience of industry leaders to work at pace on incorporating workforce skills into corporate strategies.

Hoban told delegates, including Commission members who collectively represent more than 300,000 employees, to take immediate action: “The moment for debating the merits of the skills-based approach has passed. Firms needs to act, and act now. The longer they leave it, the harder it will be to attract and retain the talent the sector needs to move forward in its present form.”

Organisations in the sector are facing significant challenges, driven by technological advancements, shifting customer expectations, and a dynamic incoming workforce. These factors have contributed to a widening skills gap, with 160,000 industry workers (16%) currently require upskilling, making it increasingly difficult for businesses to attract and retain talent with the requisite expertise.

The Skills-Based Organisation Framework – launching today at PwC – was developed as a key outcome of the Commission’s 2023 People + Technology Report, which identified a need for strategic training, reskilling and internal mobility to fend off a widening skills gap. The report showed that closing the skills gap could boost productivity, contributing an additional £555.6m per year to the UK economy.

The framework – titled ‘Building Your Future-Ready Workforce – is the sector’s first comprehensive guide on how firms in the sector can embrace the skills-based approach and achieving tangible progress. By prioritising skills over traditional job structures, it enables organisations in the sector to better adapt to the changing demands of the modern economy and ensure they are well-positioned to drive sustainable growth.

Developed with the support of PwC, the framework was constructed through cross-industry collaboration with the Commission’s members, including Barclays, TSB, NatWest.

Claire Tunley, Chief Executive, Financial Services Skills Commission said: “This is a critical moment for the industry. The current pace of change requires a new model that places skills at the centre of business strategy. Our members recognise that transitioning towards to a skills-based approach is the most effective way to close the skills gaps and enable economic growth. That’s why we’re excited to launch the industry’s Skills-Based Organisation Framework, which will enable firms to make rapid progress on their skills-based journey.”

Pete Brown, Global Workforce Leader, PwC, said: “The move away from traditional job structures to a skills-based approach is an inevitable reality for the financial services sector. Put simply, there are not enough people with the right skills, which means firms need to start adapting their approach right now. We’re already seeing positive results from organisations that have embraced a skills first strategy, which is why we’re delighted to have worked closely with the Financial Services Skills Commission to develop a framework that will deliver fast and effective results.”

Ariam Enraght-Moony, Chief People Officer, TSB: “As a Financial Services Skills Commission member, we are pleased to have contributed to the creation of the framework, helping the industry build a common language and understanding of what it means to be skills based. At TSB we are into a multi-year journey to unlock skills-focussed workforce planning to meet our future capability needs. Using employee level skills insights, we’ll enable long-term horizon planning aligned to TSB’s operating model vision and mitigate large scale redundancies by pre-empting changes in how we’ll work.”

More information on the tools and resources available to our members is available on the Skills-Based Organisation page of our website.