Finance firms to wage war for talent this year

2 in 5 CFOs said they expect to face skills shortage.

More than anything else, Singapore finance firms may be impacted the most by the growing shortage of skilled professionals, a recent research by recruitment company Robert Half revealed.

The study noted that two in five Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) tagged the current skills shortage as the top factor which will impact the sector, highlighting the need for companies to address their hiring needs.

In addition to this, this year will be shaped by Big Data and compliance pressures. More than one in three CFOs respectively point to both Big Data analytics and technology-driven activities as having the greatest impact shaping the financial services sector and more than one in four identify compliance pressures.

Other factors the report found out included innovation (26%), managing customer expectations (25%) and generational shifts (25%).

Robert Half managing director Matthieu Imbert-Bouchard said the sector has been impacted by skills shortage for some time now, and this war for talent will continue this year.

"While the impact of new technology is viewed as an additional challenge for the sector this year, it is closely tied to the skills shortage. Without suitably skilled professionals, companies cannot leverage the full value of emerging technologies such as Big Data,” he explained.

He added, "“Companies can also take several additional steps to mitigate the impact of the skills shortage including investing in employee training. This not only upskills current finance teams, it can also underpin high retention levels. Hiring contract and interim managers during peak periods or for special projects is a highly cost effective strategy that injects fresh ideas into a company, and prevents burdening employees with unrealistic workloads, which can negatively impact staff morale.”