The UK’s Financial and Professional Services sector faces a major skills shortage over the coming years. Research from the global recruiter Randstad Financial & Professional has found that almost half of finance and accounting professionals do not plan to work into old age, meaning that the sector could be hit by an exodus of departures over the next few years as the baby boomers generation reaches pension age.

Randstad’s poll of finance and accounting professionals across the UK found that nearly one-in-two (46%) planned to quit their role once they reached the state pension age.

This looming talent exodus is being fuelled by a perception among many of those employed in finance jobs that senior workers are unwelcome in the sector. Nearly four-in-ten (37%) finance employees and accountants claimed that there was “significant pressure” on older workers to leave the workforce at state pension age. A further 39% of such employees believed that senior workers face “some pressure” to quit their role once they become pensionable, taking the total number of finance and professional services workers who believe that senior workers in the sector are under some sort of pressure to quit before retirement age to 76%.

The problem of large numbers of accountants, bankers and auditors quitting the sector over the next few years is made even starker by a recent study by the Pensions Minister, Ros Altman. Her research shows that, by 2022, the number of people in the workforce aged 50 to state pension age will have risen by 3.7 million to 13.8 million and the number aged 16-49 will have reduced by 700,000.[1] This means that the financial function could be looking at a significant talent shortfall over the next few years, as older, and often more senior, workers leave the workforce en masse because they feel they are not wanted – or needed – past retirement age, when often the opposite is the case.

Britain’s Financial and Professional Services sector is almost unrivalled globally – dynamic, innovative and fast-paced, providing employment for millions of people. But many of these professionals will leave over the next few years, due to feeling undervalued. Senior accountants often spend much of their time doing solitary work, while high flying financial professionals tend to have more of a client-facing than in-house role – neither profession really gets the opportunity to be celebrated. To avoid a talent exodus, banks and accountancy firms will need to ensure they are going that extra mile to ensure their most experienced workers are feeling loved to improve staff retention.

Financial services serve their senior workers poorly.

Senior workers in the Financial Services industry are among the most likely to feel that they need to retire early because they do not feel they will be wanted as they get older.

Randstad’s research found that more than one third (35%) of financiers and like professionals plan to retire either as soon as they reach pension age or as soon as possible because they do not feel they will be wanted as they enter the official age of retirement. This figure was above the average across all sectors of 30%.

categories

topic