Financial Services Skills Taskforce: final report

The 'Financial Services Skills Taskforce: Final Report' sets out the actions that need to be taken to address the skills and talent crisis facing UK financial services.

The Financial Services Skills Taskforce was launched in June 2018 by the then Chancellor to ensure the sector is prepared to meet long-term skills needs over a period of unprecedented technological and social change. It is chaired by former City Minister Mark Hoban and convened by TheCityUK with support from EY and the City of London Corporation.

The report stresses that the sector will lose the war for talent with rival global centres and sectors if it does not take collective action now with government and the education sector to address its skills and talent challenges. It highlights critical areas for focus such as the technical upskilling and retraining of staff, the sector’s purpose and culture, and poor diversity within senior leadership.

It also makes the case for the sector to become more attractive and compelling as a career choice if it is to redress a decline in top-performing school leavers and graduates looking to work in the sector, and more closely compete with the increasingly popular tech sector.