Where are the banking talent shortages going into 2023?
Want to break into tech or private equity? You might be in for a rougher ride than someone trying to make a name for themselves in compliance or accounting – or even M&A.
So, what exactly are the most in demand jobs in finance? We looked at trends in both applications and jobs advertised from our own data for September, October and November 2022 and compared them to the same period of 2021.
Biggest increase in postings: Accounting & Finance
In 2022, the best someone can hope for is a plateau. Our data suggests that job openings across our selected categories fell by 10%, with the main drivers being tech and private equity, despite a 30% increase in applicant numbers.
Accounting & finance jobs held up strongest along with other middle office roles, perhaps suggesting that banks anticipate the infrastructure they’ve established would come good in the future.
The truth is that all jobs are in demand. This might not come as a surprise to anyone who’s in tune with the jobs market – in London, at least – but the general trend in our ten most popular categories is that a market that previously had around six applicants per role now has closer to nine.
Most applicants per role: Private Equity
Private equity was the most oversubscribed field, and the most competitive posting we have in general, with over 29 applicants per role. That’s still better than getting in via a graduate scheme, though – Blackstone has five times as many applicants. Per role.
We also found that graduate schemes and internships are easing off the gas – although they were still extremely competitive, and second only to private equity. The decrease in competitivity was driven by a smaller number of total applicants – a factor that also benefited compliance role aspirants, as all other industries saw significant both applicant increases but also job posting increases.
Technology is also worth mentioning, although this is to be expected given the pains the sector has gone through this year, with finance taking most of the refugees. We estimate that the average number of applicants per job in technology has doubled, although the field is still less competitive than others.
Hotspot: the Middle Office
The best place to be right now in banking is probably somewhere reliable, we’ve found. Not only are the “boring” jobs in finance the least competitive, but they’ve also managed to stay more or less flat compared to the “sexy” front office roles.
Compliance and legal jobs had the least uptick in applicants, we’ve found, with both postings and applicants remaining steady. Of course, it helps that banks everywhere are getting hammered by regulators that have serious teeth, handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
Operations also are a big part of the machine that makes banks work – and the marginal increase in applicants per job doesn’t give credit to the significant increase in postings that nearly matched it the increase in interest.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: Zeno.Toulon@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance.
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