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Hiring in the financial services sector can sometimes feel like a losing battle. The challenges of recruiting skilled talent in the midst of economic strain would make anyone feel overwhelmed. Now that “doing more with less” is essential for reaching success, financial services recruiting teams face a tough road ahead.
What’s in store for the financial services hiring landscape in 2024? This year brings new challenges and economic obstacles, but we’re here to help make sense of it all.
After surveying 531 talent acquisition leaders across sectors for our 2023 Hiring Insights Report, we’ve released the report’s financial services edition. Based on responses from 105 talent leaders in financial services, the report highlights how they’re attracting and retaining talent amid today’s obstacles.
For the TL;DR of the report, here’s a roundup of the six key takeaways your team must know to successfully weather 2024’s financial services hiring storm.
1. Hiring Goal Attainment Fell Short
Despite the best efforts made by financial services recruiting teams, they still face daunting challenges due to the unstable economy and its impact on the job market. As a result of these ongoing struggles, financial services companies only met 51.8% of their hiring goals in 2023.
With economic uncertainties continuing into 2024, this year’s hiring goal attainment remains increasingly uncertain.
Unlock finance’s top hiring strategies in 2024
Our study of 105 financial services TA leaders reveals how to hit your hiring goals in a challenging market.
2. Top Previous Change: Recruitment Team Turnover
Recruiters are facing significant pressure due to high turnover rates within their teams. In fact, this is the most significant change they experienced in the past year (57%). Few recruiters and an abundance of candidates aren’t an ideal combination.
Interestingly, this high turnover rate is closely related to the second most significant change mentioned by respondents: the increasing importance of quickly connecting with candidates (45%). When grappling with a smaller hiring team, quickly engaging candidates becomes an even more challenging task.
3. Layoffs Hit Financial Services
Although the media has focused heavily on job cuts within the technology sector, financial services has also been affected. A staggering 71% of surveyed companies experienced layoffs. Of these impacted companies, 60% reported that job cuts affected 10-19% of their workforce, while 26% reported layoffs of over 20%.
As a consequence of these layoffs, financial services companies face even greater challenges in finding skilled candidates. Companies with a reputation for job cuts may also struggle to attract otherwise qualified candidates. In this vein, it is crucial for hiring teams to make the most of the talent pool by taking time to meaningfully connect with candidates.
4. Top Expected Challenge: Limiting Hiring Technology
The biggest upcoming challenge expected by talent leaders in financial services is “limitations of current hiring technology” (34%). This marks a substantial increase in ranking, as it was only tied for sixth place in the previous year. After experiencing high levels of turnover within their teams, talent leaders recognize that a loss of proper technology makes it even more difficult for hiring teams to keep pace with the workload.
Relying on outdated processes and technology creates unnecessary obstacles for already limited hiring teams and impedes them from achieving their goals. By leveraging the appropriate technology tools, teams can enhance their productivity and deliver an exceptional candidate experience, ensuring that turnover no longer hinders their success.
5. Competitive or Uncompetitive Landscape? You Decide
When asked about the future, talent leaders in financial services are divided on whether the talent landscape will become more competitive due to increased demand for talent (53%) or less competitive due to an increase in available talent who recently quit their jobs (52%).
Although the level of competition for talent remains uncertain, many TA leaders agree that the current candidate-led market will persist in the future. Coming in third place, respondents believe that increased candidate demands will necessitate more touchpoints in the hiring process. This further emphasizes the need for a more personalized, engaging approach to recruitment.
6. Hitting Goals With Efficiency and Productivity
Talent leaders identified four key priorities for the upcoming months, each ranking within two percentage points of the other. These include improving efficiency (44%), optimizing automation (43%), increasing personalization (42%), and upgrading hiring technology (42%). A common thread among these areas is the need to enhance productivity, a critical factor in today’s economic climate.
Efficiency and automation are essential to providing a fast and seamless hiring process, especially when resources are limited. By increasing personalization, hiring teams can further improve the candidate experience and make applicants feel valued. Lastly, upgrading the hiring technology allows teams to create an even more effective process. By leveraging hiring technology, teams can streamline their operations, improve productivity, and achieve more without needing to hire additional staff.
Financial Services Recruiting Teams: Want More Insights?
2022 brought a shaky economy, sweeping reductions in force, and a challenging hiring landscape. Now in 2024, financial services recruiters are met with a perfect storm of challenges. The pressure is on to attract qualified candidates, deliver an efficient hiring process, and leverage hiring tools that drive success. Are you ready to conquer 2024?
To dive deeper into these insights and much, much more, get the financial services report today.
