Financial services talent acquisition: 2023 data on salaries, demand & key skills

The last few years have been stormy for the financial services sector, which has faced Brexit, pandemic-related instability, geopolitical crises, and most recently, a significant shortage of talent. 

Through all of this, we at Michael Page Banking and Financial Services have seen that companies which prioritise attracting and keeping top talent are best positioned to navigate choppy waters – and capitalise on emerging opportunities. 

That's why we’ve produced not one, but two guides to hiring strategy and salary benchmarks in the financial services sector - one for front-office roles, and one for back and middle-office roles.

Access your 2023 Guides to Salaries & Hiring Strategy in Financial Services

The data in these guides is taken from our extensive records of job advertisements in the sector, as well as our placements and conversations with banks, investment managers, and financial services firms.  

Keep reading for an overview of the key insights and data within our 2023 guides, from talent demand to salary trends.

How rising demand has driven salaries upward 

Across the sector, we have seen nearly 40,000 vacancies advertised in the past three months alone. About 13% of suitable applications were received on the first day of a job being advertised, and 25% were received within the first five days, highlighting the rapid pace of financial services recruitment in 2023.

In our salary guides, we provide a detailed breakdown of financial services salaries. There can be variation depending on the size and location of the employer, but in general many financial services roles attract top-end salaries in six figures.

Across middle-office and back-office roles, some of the highest paid roles include:

• Debt Capital Markets Director (£130,000)
• Treasury Structuring Director (£130,000)
• Transformation Programme Manager (£125,000)
• Head of Treasury (£120,000)

Front-office financial services roles can command significantly higher salaries, with maximums reaching well in excess of £400,000 and C-Suite roles exceeding £1 million.

While most salaries are either stable or trending downward, reflecting broader macroeconomic uncertainty, we found that in the Socially Responsible Investment niche, salaries are up across the board. 

Hiring timelines in financial services

Demand for talent is high, with a general shortage of skills across the sector. To understand how fast things are moving at the moment, we tracked the time taken to receive a suitable CV for a role, for the candidate to reach the interview stage, and for the employer to make an offer:

• Days to CV: 4 (permanent roles) and 1 (temp roles)
• Days to interview: 10 (perm) and 5 (temp)
• Days to placement: 35 (perm) and 17 (temp)

Recent turbulence in the financial services sector and the wider economy has left some candidates concerned about future redundancy. This can lead to inertia in the hiring market and a 'wait and see' attitude, something which employers hoping to attract fresh talent must work to overcome.

David Stansfield, Associate Partner at Page Executive Banking and Financial Services, commented: 

In a fast-changing landscape like this, having the right people with the right skills on board is essential. To attract the high-calibre financial services talent you need to thrive in this market, you will need to make highly appealing offers and truly sell your roles. Beyond this, be sure to optimise the candidate experience, move fast, and demonstrate the career development and advancement opportunities you can provide.

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What skills are in-demand in financial services?

We see a broad range of in-demand skills in financial services roles, especially in back and middle-office roles where some very specific competencies are rising rapidly in demand. This includes technical skills like coding in specific disciplines, like risk management.

Here’s a snapshot of the in-demand skills we outline in the salary guides:

Front-office:

• Financial modelling
• Credit analysis
• Due diligence
• Client relationships
• Market expertise

Back and middle-office:

• Cyber security audit
• Agile project management
• IFRS account preparation
• Risk modelling and coding
• Regulatory knowledge: SMCR, CASS, Consumer Duty

With the industry being disrupted from all angles, getting the skills profiles of your hires right is critical to building an effective workforce. Esther Blunsdon, Business Director at Michael Page Banking and Financial Services, said: 

Recent market volatility and a changing economic outlook have created a spike in demand for certain key skillsets. These are competencies that hiring managers will need in their teams to navigate a challenging market and keep up with developments in the financial services landscape.

The financial services sector remains candidate short, and economic turbulence is not helping this, since many more skilled and experienced individuals are choosing to stay put rather than put their job security at risk.

PageGroup have already seen spikes in demand for specific skillsets like FP&A, credit, interest rates, and risk management. We are expecting this to continue, particularly in areas like cyber security and computer programming. Against this backdrop, it is key to stay up to date with salary fluctuations, the best strategies to access key talent pools, and what top candidates are looking for.

Don’t neglect your employee value proposition (EVP)

Employer Value Proposition (EVP) is the total value that you offer to potential and current employees, from salary and benefits to company culture. In such a fast-moving financial services recruitment market, it should be a top priority for employers. 

That’s why we regularly survey professionals in the financial services sector, taking the temperature of the workforce and tracking their evolving expectations. Our salary guides provide important context for financial services organisations looking to enhance their EVPs. 

In our most recent 2023 survey, we asked financial services professionals to choose their top priorities for a new job from a list. We found that they were more likely to value a good work-life balance, job security, and a good relationship with their employees:

• Work-life balance: Selected by 62% 
• Job security: 51% 
• Good relationships with colleagues: 49%

When it comes to benefits, we found that the most popular were: 

• 28+ days' holiday: Selected by 51% 
• Company pension: 48%

This is broadly in line with wider demographics. However, we also found that of the ten benefits we asked about, financial services professionals were more likely than average respondents to seek four of them:

• Hybrid/flexible/remote working: Selected by 50% (survey average: 43%)
• Significant bonuses: 38% (32%)
• Medical insurance: 35% (27%)
• Buy and sell holiday scheme: 24% (16%)

So, if you’re a hiring manager or a HR professional in the financial services space, be sure to factor these preferences into your talent acquisition and retention planning.

What's next?

At Michael Page Banking and Financial Services and Page Executive’s Banking and Financial Services practice, we have decades of experience connecting top talent with our clients, from the qualified professional to the leadership level. Meanwhile, if you need expert assistance building a competitive employee value proposition, you can contact our Page Consulting team, who help employers enhance their EVPs.

For an introductory conversation, please get in touch on the details below:

Tara Bagley, Partner, Page Executive Banking and Financial Services
E: tarabagley@pageexecutive.com

Eithne Hynes, Associate Director, Michael Page Banking and Financial Services
E: eithnehynes@michaelpage.com