The skill shortage: what’s happened across finance & Insurance?
The talent shortage in software development and finance has, unsurprisingly, had some vast effects on the finance community. It is important to acknowledge the advances in technology, and digital talent. However, we are also faced with potentially unsustainable growth…
Competition for the best talent has resulted in salary surges. It is true that not all companies will be able to afford the expected increase in salary for the right talent, which can be concerning if you’re a young or smaller fish in a very large pond – but it is exciting to see the breaking of salary guides for the right talent. People thrive off of workplace flexibility, and candidates know how valued they are when offered increased incomes.
Flexibility has been appreciated in terms of WFH too, and productivity has increased in a variety of areas with such freedom to work wherever works best for individual candidates. This also mitigates some risk of burn out in employees, as work-life balance has become much healthier with the onset of demand for WFH.
However, the income bubble in the market is something to watch out for. Candidates who are switching roles 2-3 times a year cannot be sustained should we be faced with a similar climate to that of 2020, in which companies had to downsize. Companies can only compete with each other to a certain level. It is also worth watching out for the effect this growth and competition could have on employee wellbeing- making sure to take care of your own became especially important with the onset of the pandemic and should remain a high priority as the market continues to bounce back, and projects create greater workforces et cetera.
With growing workforces has come quicker interview processes, and lower entry standards, which is a win on both sides of the sector. The candidate pool has widened with the opening up of firms to slightly less experienced candidates, and thus, the skill shortage may be salvageable. So much money and time can be lost to long interview processes, too, and there are plenty of simple fixes to speed up and smooth out your interviews. Not only video recorded interviews, but speedy feedback and shorter interviews can make all the difference.
