2025 Emerging Trends in Talent Acquisition.
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Leaders build, shape and define your business, so there is zero room for error when recruiting leadership talent. AMS’s executive search services scour the globe to find you the very best candidates in the market, ensuring diversity, inclusion, reduced costs and good speed to hire.

Download the factsheet now to find out more about how AMS can help you find the best leaders.

The last few years have been unsettled for the banking industry. As we look ahead, it’s evident that financial services recruitment strategies will need to continue to evolve to stay ahead of future demands.

This whitepaper explores predictions and trends across the international banking sector – and provides advice on how talent acquisition (TA) leaders can be prepared for what’s next.

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AI in HR:

Leap over hiring hurdles and get straight to the right candidates

Get on track with talent technology

Today’s talent acquisition teams are grappling with an increasingly complex and rapidly changing market.

In the face of a prolonged time-to-hire cycle that is averaging 42 days, the current recruitment landscape presents numerous hurdles that hinder swift and precise hiring – from sourcing brand new skills, to higher candidate rejection rates, and increased competition for top talent.

Right now, the importance of finding a suitable candidate fit cannot be overstated. Both employers and job seekers benefit immensely from targeted candidate matches that are fuelled by skills and expertise.

Enter: Artificial Intelligence (AI).

AI can transform the approach to job hunting and recruitment. Harnessing its power can provide a strategic advantage, enabling companies to pivot towards agility, data-driven decision-making, and enhanced efficiency.

While leveraging this technology’s diverse capabilities to overcome barriers requires thought and planning, once successfully done, it can streamline recruitment efforts for faster, fairer outcomes.

This article delves into strategies for navigating this exciting new technology in its many forms. It addresses the hiring hurdles facing TA teams right now and explores how AI-driven talent tools can make all the difference in getting you straight to the right candidates.

Feeling the ambition to hire with AI?

Looking to integrate AI into your business and start overcoming the hiring hurdles in your organization? Here are some tips to help embrace the power of AI:

– Invest in AI-powered platforms tailored to your organizational needs, objectives and values.

– Foster collaboration between HR, IT, and AI specialists, and incorporate feedback into the strategy.

– Develop clear guidelines for AI implementation in recruitment processes.

– Provide comprehensive training on AI tools and methodologies.

– Cultivate a culture of learning, innovation, experimentation, and adaptability of AI applications.

– Emphasize data privacy and ethical considerations in AI usage.

Talent teams shared with us how they are gearing up to use AI

29%

Said customized outreach emails could be made more compelling by AI

31%

Said targeted job descriptions could be made creative with the use of AI

53%

Said automating interview notes with AI could help create concise summaries

41%

Said AI can strengthen hiring by creating faster short lists of candidates

*Results from four AI LinkedIn polls during April 2024

Overcoming your hurdles: common hiring obstacles and how AI can help

Examining your current hiring process from a bird’s eye view can pinpoint the areas that are consuming the most time and creating an unnecessarily long candidate journey.

It could be that Sourcers are multi-tasking multiple steps upfront with a candidate, or that recruiters are targeting the wrong individuals. Whatever is creating this friction, it’s vital to figure out what is stopping your talent team from reaching their end goals.

Talent Hurdle #1

Misuse of valuable time

Many TA departments are spending hours of their precious time and resource on admin-intensive jobs, such as interview scheduling and transcription, when they could be focusing on more valuable areas like improving the candidate experience and creating meaningful connections with applicants.

AI Action

Give small processes to AI

Tech-powered interview transcription and summarization capabilities allow recruiters to gather information quickly and store data effectively. And by automatically scheduling candidate interviews using agile and dynamic AI – problem solving will naturally improve and can help enrich the recruiter and candidate relationship. Taking these tasks away from recruiters ultimately allows them to interview more people per role, and in more depth.

Talent Hurdle #2

Disjointed candidate experiences

From job posting to acceptance, this multi-step journey requires careful assessment. A target audience need to feel engaged with your brand. They want to engage in a conversation in their language, using digital channels to ensure there is a cohesive experience throughout. But recruiters could benefit from more time focusing on their tasks while AI handles creation of a more engaging and consistent process.

AI Action

Elevate their journey with AI

AI can be used to create more compelling job descriptions, as well as more personalized and relevant outreach emails. Using chatbots and other AI-powered communication tools will offer candidates an experience that is highly personalized to them. This interactive and multi-channel candidate communication experience will benefit hiring prospects and require less manual effort from recruiters.

Talent Hurdle #3

High numbers of applicants

Providing every candidate with a great experience can be challenging, especially when recruiter resource is scarce and applicant volumes are overwhelmingly high in some cases. Without the right support and consistent communication, candidates could become disillusioned and drop out of the process to find other opportunities.

AI Action

Let AI tailor your talent pool

Skills mapping tools driven by AI create a more accurate skills fit between open roles and candidates. It means recruiters spend less time on the wrong individuals, providing a clearer path to candidates who are truly fit for the job. With a smaller but significantly more relevant talent pool to work from, recruiters can focus their energy on engaging the right people, effectively.

Talent Hurdle #4

Missing out on strong candidates

Many of today’s TA teams don’t have the ability to create skills profiles and global skills maps – or if they do there might be constraints around the processes here. This means that more diverse and underrepresented candidate groups, or remote-based candidates are often overlooked. As a result, the talent pool for open roles may be considerably limited.

AI Action

Cast your net wider with AI

As well as removing the wrong candidates from your hiring process, AI-powered skills mapping tools can also help to widen the original candidate search from which to create your finessed shortlist. AI technology can improve access to skills insights and pinpoint skilled individuals (both local and global) who may never have been seen or considered before, helping to create a more diverse talent pool.

Talent Hurdle #5

HR’s internal performance and talent management needs a boost

Is your helpdesk not functioning the way it was intended? Service centre functions could use an over haul? Are you finding costs are getting sunk into internal tech tools that don’t integrate and make sense for the business?

AI Action

Enhance your performance management with AI

Utilizing AI can help teams to run their internal processes more smoothly and uncovers areas of opportunity for internal mobility, workshopping, brainstorming etc. It can also identify areas where employees can be upskilled to perform new tasks.

Staying on course with ethical and compliant AI

While pinpointing ways in which AI can refine your hiring process is important, it’s also vital to ensure your AI solutions are rooted in compliance.

At the moment, there are many legislations and partnerships underway to formalize the process for leveraging AI as it finds its place in our world. With a near-daily influx of new AI-driven tools, staying up to date on these ever-shifting AI trends and legalities is crucial. But it can also be overwhelming.

So, where to start?

As a first stop in hiring safely with AI, consider how you’re using it. Do you need talent development in the AI space to enhance your workforce’s AI and talent tech capabilities, would you like machine learning and AI to support you in finding hires, or are you on the hunt for talent technology? Then understand what is happening in the AI safety regulations within your region. Will key announcements in global legislation impact your plans to adopt or leverage AI?

You may also consider working with an expert technology advisory partner with hands-on experience in a wide variety of AI tools. Organizations, like AMS, specialize in implementing and optimizing AI for businesses – from setting clear business goals that AI can support with, to upskilling internal teams and ensure readiness for AI adoption.

“While AI in recruiting has enormous potential, teams should validate the recommendations and work with their vendor partners, like AMS, to make sure these systems are trained on relevant data – and make sure real-world recruiters are involved.”

– Josh Bersin, The Josh Bersin Company

Questions to ask to avoid improper use of AI:

– Who has audited this tool or AI model and what were their findings?

– What data does this tool require to operate and does that data pose a risk?

– Are data points too limited? Is the system transparent?

– What processing is happening outside of the AI? Is other technology being used anywhere? Has it been tested?

– Are my candidates using AI to apply? How is this impacting hiring as well?

AI in talent: achieved! What’s next?

You’ve set out on this AI course, witnessed the transformative power it brings to your hiring game. Checked that box, conquered those obstacles. But let’s pause for a moment: did you truly reach the right candidates?

AI in talent acquisition isn’t a one-and-done deal; it’s an ongoing adventure that will require innovative and adaptive mindsets. To thrive, you’ll need to embrace change with the resilience and agility of a talent trailblazer. Because let’s face it, the employee of tomorrow isn’t just skilled—they’re open-minded, and ready to unleash AI’s true potential.

In this tech-forward hiring game, data reigns supreme. AI’s expertise hinges on its access to the key information. Without a steady stream of insights, trends, and patterns, its potential is limited and so is your ability to keep up with the talent you need.

The future of talent success lies in the willingness to adapt to tech.

The future of recruitment will present novel capabilities – such as around audio and video – that are likely to play a role in your hiring.

Prepare for big change ahead. AI demands a reimagining of your operational playbook and an overhaul to your team’s skills. It’s not just about compliance; it’s about unleashing the full potential of your tech-savvy workforce.

“By leveraging the opportunities tech-enabled RPO will bring to automation, administrative tasks and predictive insights, it allows people to do what they do best – transforming the candidate experience.”

Nikki Hall, Chief People Officer, AMS 

Ready to start overcoming your hiring obstacles with AI?

Need help getting started with Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition?

Talk to AMS today.

TopBuilt with Shorthand


Ensuring candidates are 'work ready' is something businesses have been championing for many years. After all, new employees that can hit the ground running contribute greatly to business success. But how about the next generation of talent that haven’t had access to the same opportunities as others. In our new whitepaper ‘Are Gen Z ready for the world of work?’  we look at steps talent leaders can take to help Early Careers hires make an instant impact.

To continue reading, click here.

Steps talent leaders can take to help Early Careers hires make an impact

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Are Gen Z ready for the world of work?

Steps talent leaders can take to help Early Careers hires make an impact

Ensuring candidates are ‘work ready’ is something businesses have been championing for many years. After all, new employees that can hit the ground running contribute greatly to business success.

But the last three-to-four years have brought this requirement to the forefront of people’s minds. The latest generation to enter the workforce haven’t had access to the same opportunities to learning as previous generations, thanks in part to the pandemic, when education and businesses were in lockdown for nearly two years. This has had a knock-on effect – something today’s employers need to empathise with and understand the impact.

Today’s early talent is not as ‘work ready’ as previous generations. In fact, according to research conducted by Intelligent.com, 40% of business leaders believe that Generation Z graduates are unprepared for today’s workplace.

So, what else has changed? And why is this new generation more in need of a clear and informative work-readiness approach than ever before?

Nearly one third (32%) of graduates feel unprepared for getting a job.

-Prospects Survey, June 2023

New generation, new issues

Here are some identifiable causes for a lack of ‘work readiness’ among today’s Early Careers candidates.

Virtual isolation

As well as the isolating impact of COVID-19 in the workplace, virtual environments have made things challenging for candidates and businesses. Many Gen Z candidates know nothing of being in a workplace environment. They haven’t had the luxury of an internship or done any in-person work experience therefore they don’t have many of the skills previous cohorts may have naturally possessed.

Office etiquette

Gen Z are the first digitally native generation so they are more than capable with digital interaction, but what about when it comes to going to work in the office? With interactions happening mostly online, work etiquette has become a big issue. Practices that are acceptable at home are not appreciated in the office. Company codes such as punctuality for meetings, how to dress in the office – Gen Z has less awareness of how business operates and expectations within specific environments. 

Different attitudes to work

Candidates’ attitude to work has also changed. Today’s cohorts want more from work, they want purpose, a feeling of belonging, they want to work for a company that aligns to their values. This has lead Gen Z to be more open with their employers. The new generation know that it’s a candidate driven market so are not afraid to tell employers what they think, whether this could be how to improve, what they like or don’t like about working in that environment.  This is why drop-out rates and retention rates are rising in some cases, as employers don’t understand the changing expectations of new hires and how they want to be communicated with or what they want from work.

Hybrid hopes

Lastly, hybrid working is still here. Our new generation is used to working when and where they want to. A recent survey by Handshake showed that 73% of Gen Z employees valued a flexible-working schedule. Remote, hybrid and other forms of flexible working are some of the wellbeing initiatives they expect from employers. Cost of living pressures require flexibility to work remotely, people don’t expect to commute 5 days a week, and candidates will require flexibility in any role offered to be a competitive option.

Over a quarter (26%) of Early Careers candidates cited ‘getting work experience’ as their biggest challenge over the past year.

– Prospects Survey, June 2023

How to make Generation Z ‘work ready’

The good news for employers and hiring managers is that our future talent are keen to learn. Nearly half (47%) of Gen Z professionals say they’re spending more time on learning and development to get ahead in their careers. This gives businesses a good platform to build on.

Here are some of the ways you can support your newest employees and keep them with you for longer.

Get back to basics

Many Early Careers employees may need to be taught basic business etiquette, including how to write a business email. This generation uses social media to communicate, often in shorthand. Consider setting up some bite-sized training for your new employees, to help them get off to a good start.

As well as teaching them how best to communicate and interact, it’s also crucial to demonstrate the importance of working as a team. This helps to encourage personal growth and improve resilience, providing young talent with the skills to adapt in the face of future obstacles.

Buddy them up

A great way to establish expectations and expose them to etiquette and nuances is to team new candidates with a mentor or work buddy. Mentorship is a powerful way to engage, upskill and support students and recent graduates, not least because they’ll probably have experienced the concept before in an educational setting.

Make it more engaging

Providing helpful onboarding information is important, but it needs be delivered in a way that sticks. Using digital content and webinars to educate and upskill people can be more effective than written information, for example, as can onsite preview events to showcase what comes next and network.

Giving feedback in an empathetic and personal way will also have greater effect. Instead of talking across a table, for example, try sitting side-by-side. Breaking down barriers is the most important objective before a candidate joins, make them feel part of your business from point of application or offer.

Review your flexibility

Many businesses are set in their ways of working. (If it works, why change it?) But, with the latest generation of candidates, flexibility will be key to success.

Talk with your candidates about how they like to work. What may look unproductive could be just a different way of doing things. For example, typing on a phone doesn’t necessarily mean a candidate is playing games or texting friends; many Gen Z professionals use their phone to write notes. Progressive employers will get – and keep – the best talent by listening to their candidates’ opinions and adapting the way they work.

Flexibility will also include those all-important working-from-home options.

Be upfront about career prospects

Leaving things to the last minute rarely works. It’s the same when talking about career prospects. If you want to avoid candidates jumping ship, show them where they can go in the business. This will give them focus and meaning, helping them see the bigger picture.  Providing role models who can illustrate varied career paths are impactful and authentic, being able to create learning journeys that are broad and fulfilling is key.

Make the effort to meet them in person

Even though a lot of the onboarding process is virtual, making the effort to meet candidates face-to-face can make a difference. By connecting with someone, whether that’s a recruiter or line manager, they start to feel part of the business. Forming those relationships early on means bonds are made, making candidates want to stay with a business.

Make sure everyone has a positive experience

Your employer brand is everything. Make a bad impression and it can affect how many candidates you attract. Make sure everyone who touches your organisation has a positive experience, whether they’re successful or not.

Candidates who are happy with the selection process and engagement are 38% more likely to accept an offer.

– AMS Talent Team survey

Need some help?

Changing the way you do your onboarding can be a big step. That’s where an Early Careers  recruitment partner can help.

They can provide the expertise and technology to educate, engage and upskill candidates with everything they need to join your business, making them feel part of your business before they even accept an offer. It’s work-readiness training that works for your business.

At AMS, our Early Careers coaching products enable you to make meaningful connections during application and pre–join stages, nurturing candidates during the selection phases, educating and inspiring them to be part of your organisation, and increasing the likelihood of retention. This inclusive approach not only reduces drop-out rates, but also improves the probability of candidates accepting an offer, and contributes to a positive and lasting relationship with your organisation. Learn more in the video below.

Need help in providing onboarding that provides a positive outcome for you and your Early Careers candidates? Talk to AMS today.

TopBuilt with Shorthand



Skills shortages. Pressure to supercharge recruitment processes. A lack of strategic support.

In association with The Josh Bersin Company, our latest survey of 130+ HR executives reveals that the TA industry is at a critical pivot point.

In response to these findings, the Talent Acquisition at a Crossroads Factbook explores key focus areas to help HR and TA teams enable transformation by becoming closer to their own organization – as a true strategic partner. Topics explored in this report include:

-Strategic alignment and organizational perception

-Technology adoption and planning

-Technology as a competitive lever

-Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) remains relevant

-Balancing efficiency and recruitment strategy

As the talent acquisition (TA) landscape continues to fluctuate, talent teams are looking for the most effective ways to manage and optimize their hiring function. Candidate expectations have changed, and technology is at the core of the employment experience. A Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partnership remains important, but it has evolved – and will need to be tech-forward and adaptable to reach today’s modern hiring goals.

Key Questions Answered:

  • Where should I start with a tech-enabled RPO?
  • What is the difference between a traditional RPO and modern RPO?
  • How are other organizations planning to benefit from tech-enabled hiring?
  • What role does human intervention play in tech-enabled hiring?
  • How to introduce a tech-enabled RPO, and why data is so important?

AI promises a future where hiring is not only faster and more data informed, but also deeply attuned to the nuances of both the organization and the candidate – all delivered at a scale previously unimaginable. 

Download this whitepaper which explores the multitude of ways that AI will make hiring faster, cheaper and more personalized.

Key Takeaways:

  • AI is a force multiplier that will complement the work of TA and HR professionals and free up their time to solve business problems such as measuring hiring manager satisfaction, focusing on quality of hires, and building better teams. TA and HR leaders must act now to implement their AI strategy or risk falling behind competitors and alienating job candidates.
  • Rapidly advancing Generative AI technologies, a complex regulatory environment, and high development and ongoing maintenance costs make building AI tools in-house impractical for most organizations.
  • Computing power doubles about every 18 months. Generative AI is not at an impressive point in its evolution yet because the recent ground breaking technological advancements are so new. AI presents a transformative opportunity for new ways of working that were previously thought to be impossible. TA and HR leaders who harness the power of AI will play a strategic role in driving success in their organizations.

A big-picture perspective can help organisations identify new opportunities, increase efficiencies, and improve processes for their business. So, why is it standard practice for global organisations to have numerous local Early Careers strategies?

In our new whitepaper we explore how businesses can launch their strategies into the stratosphere of success by adopting a global approach.

 

View the story

An eye on tomorrow

Top trends shaping talent acquisition in the banking industry

by Lynne Gardner

Sector Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services

The last few years have been unsettled for the financial services industry.

Banks have had to adjust to new ways of working. An increased requirement for more agile talent processes and digital transformation has re-shaped hiring practices. In addition, global uncertainty has meant the industry has had to brace for recession and adapt to a reduced talent pool. And there has been a raft of new diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies to absorb. 

As we look ahead, it’s evident that banking recruitment strategies will need to continue to evolve to stay ahead of future challenges.  

This whitepaper explores predictions and trends across the international banking sector – and provides advice on how TA Leaders can be prepared for what’s next.

AMS is the market leader in partnering with large scale, complex global banks to deliver world class talent acquisition services (6 of the top 8 global banks partner with us today) with over 2,500 specialists supporting experienced hire, campus and contingent worker hiring in banking. In 2023, we delivered 125,000 hires for our banking clients globally.

The story so far

When it comes to the banking talent market, it’s easy to forget what normal looks like. The last few years have been extremely turbulent, and predicting what will happen next has been virtually impossible.

Take 2022, for instance. This was a record year for hiring, but just one year later, banks concluded they had over-hired on the assumption that the economy would continue to grow. In fact, it had started to slow down.

In every region, hiring volumes significantly decreased across AMS’s extensive global banking portfolio by up to 50% between 2022 and 2023.

AMS

Many of the big banks have cut their workforce significantly. For example, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup reduced their combined workforces by 17,700 last year.1 The only US bank to buck the trend was JP Morgan Chase, adding 16,200 employees after the purchase of First Republic Bank in May 2023 and adding 470 people to its corporate and investment bank in the second quarter.

Whilst overall hiring reduced, banks have continued to focus on strategic hiring initiatives. For example, whilst Bank of America focused its efforts on repurposing its existing workforce, they continued to make ongoing investments in fixed income professionals in London and roughly doubled its sales and trading workforce in EMEA over the last two years.

Areas of growth

With the outlook remaining uncertain, many TA leaders are still very cautious about hiring levels for 2024.

But there are areas within banking that are seeing growth, and one of those is the acquisition of digital talent. 91% of global banks are increasing their cloud-enabled digital transformation investments as they realize the urgency to compete and stay relevant in today’s digital-first world.2

Although digital maturity is gradually rising across the banking sector (especially in areas such as account opening, bancassurance, investment services, and card management), most banks still have a long way to go until they can respond to customer expectations around digital services.3

Another area that’s also growing is internal mobility. With the reluctance to invest in new talent, many banks are looking at their current staff, and providing training and development opportunities to fill specific skills gaps.

Remember, this new post-industrial economy is moving toward a further shortage of workers. The recent U.S. BLS workforce outlook shows the U.S. workforce will only grow at 0.3% per year over the next decade, while the GDP is expected to grow at 1.9%. Where will these workers come from? The answer lies in internal hiring.4

In the Internal Hiring Factbook, developed in partnership between AMS and The Josh Bersin Company as part of The Talent Climate Series, consumer banking has the largest internal hiring rate of all sectors at 42%. Investment banking saw an uptick from 25-27% from 2022 to 2023 during a period of restricted external hiring. Banks will need to consider how to retain and improve these rates during periods of fewer hiring restrictions.

We will definitely see a greater focus on operationalizing skills-based hiring and prioritizing career pathing and reskilling of the internal workforce is a great place to start. Organisations who can successfully identify critical future skills and train and develop their existing workforce will be able to demonstrate far greater agility when responding to critical programs of work and rely less on expensive external hires.

Our global predictions for the banking sector in 2024

A steady workforce
Banks will be cautious about further reductions in their workforce as they anticipate a rebound in the market. Hiring volumes in 2024 are expected to run in-line with 2023.

Centralized expense
Expense control will be centralized at HR and Talent Acquisition (TA) level, focus on hiring budgets and ‘doing more with less’

Increased automation
Fewer people will be needed to administer manual back office tasks and for TA departments, we will see greater automation of highly manual processes such as candidate screening, job-advert writing, candidate shortlisting and interview scheduling.5  

Technological turbulence
The rate of technological advancement will increase as banks address some of the latest opportunities in fin-tech innovations include Open Banking, RegTech, Autonomous Finance and Voice Integration. Specialized tech areas where banks are predicted to invest and recruit or upskill in 2024 include AI, ML, cloud, and cybersecurity.

New skills adoption
Banks will seek to secure or develop expert teams of quants, modelers, translators and AI skills such as prompt engineering and database curation. According to McKinsey, generative AI alone has the potential to deliver significant new value to banks between $200bn to $340bn benefitting Corporate, Retail banking and Risk functions the most.6

Bridging the green skills gap
While several Wall Street asset management companies have recently scaled back their participation in Climate Action 100+7, Banks are continuing to experience increasing revenues from Sustainable Finance, and we will continue to see TA teams focusing on building talent pipelines to secure EST/Renewables market experts.

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UK & EMEA

APAC

North America

India

UK & EMEA

The impact of Brexit

There has been much noise about the impact of Brexit in the banking industry. Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest losers of the deal was London.

The relocation of financial operations has seen around 7,000 banking employees move from London to the EU.8

The decision for the UK to leave the EU has had a negative effect on the London banking industry. In 2017, London was the undisputed global leader in the Global Financial Services Index, followed by New York. 9London has since dropped to second place and hubs such as Frankfurt have risen from 23rd to 13th place and Paris from 29th to 14th position globally. For example, Paris is attracting major investment with the likes of Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Bank of America expanding their operations there.

This shift has sent shockwaves through the banking industry and has created long-term change in recruitment. With US investment banks gaining European market share, local banks like BNP Paribas and Société Générale are starting to experience more competition in attracting and retaining candidates. With all these big players fishing in the same pool, it has dramatically changed the whole dynamic of what’s available in the marketplace.

Looking to new regional markets for digital talent

According to McKinsey, as digital talent shortages increase in the rest of Europe, “Africa will become a technology hotspot in the next five years as an inflow of developers revolutionizes the continent into a “world-leading startup ecosystem.”10 Africa will have the world’s largest working age population by 2040 and holds immense potential for companies seeking new markets and talent, and the research reports a 30% increase in developer talent in Africa with increased venture capital funding.

Recommendations for TA leaders in UK & EMEA

  • Ensure the organisation has retention plans for their best performers. Competition for talent is fierce. Proactively present the best internal job opportunities to your top talent before going to the external market, and provide the best coaching and training to ensure their success in stretch assignments.
  • Conduct an analysis against other banks. How competitive are your compensation packages? What or who are your attrition risks?
  • Forward-plan to combat attrition and movement in the market. Focus on pipelining and external talent-succession planning.
  • Move past traditional adverts and into a broader mix of attraction strategies. As well as traditional LinkedIn targeting, use programmatic advertising and attraction like geofencing to attract more passive talent.
  • Look to new talent markets such as Africa for scarce digital skills.  
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APAC

A post-Covid return to growth

In 2023, hiring in the region grew by 4.6%, higher than the global average of 3.3%.11 Expansion is expected to continue in 2024, driven by emerging SEA markets and recovery in China.

Increased economic uncertainty and fluctuating market conditions have intensified job seekers’ efforts. Year on year, job seeker activity was elevated by 16% in Australia and 19% in India.12

Major players including Deutsche Bank and Nomura are strategically adjusting their approaches in response to the shifting dynamics in the APAC investment-banking landscape, investing more in the region to profit from the higher growth compared to other markets.

There has been significant growth in the Fintech market where growth is expected to exceed 16% CAGR between 2024 and 2029.13 Developing markets are seeing 70% more finance app installs than developed markets and fintech adoption is up to 67% in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. There has been significant excitement around the launch of Hong Kong’s 8 digital challenger banks including ZA Bank, Airstar, Ant Bank and Mox Bank (backed by Standard Chartered).

Growth in wealth market

Right now, there’s a huge shift in the high-net-worth market.

Traditional markets like the US and EMEA have shrunk in the last few years. In contrast, emerging markets like Africa, Middle East and Singapore are seeing a surge in high-net-worth customers.

So, what’s driving this change? Fluctuating populations. In the US and EMEA, the older and wealthier population is shrinking while in emerging markets there is real growth. More people means more wealth and inheritance, so the customer base for high-net-worth in the APAC region is growing. In fact, an industry report indicates that Asia will surpass the US in financial wealth by 2025.

As a result of this, major banks including BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Citibank, UBS and HSBC are moving to hire more private bankers and appoint senior leaders to wealth management. In addition, there’s been a massive tightening in the market for licensed relationship managers to support Wealth customers. This means these managers are now much more in demand, with big banks competing hard to attract them so they can make the most of this lucrative market.

Tech hiring is on the up

Even though the hiring market is going through a significant transition, tech hiring is still surging ahead.

In this digital world, banks know that they need to stay competitive and that investing in tech talent helps them do this. But attracting and retaining this talent is challenging as they’re competing with other sectors investing in digital transformation.

We’re seeing some banking businesses embedding generative AI in their operations, which is intensifying the talent crunch in the sector. Here, banks are re-prioritising investment money and investing in reskilling their staff, which they expect will deliver longer investment gains.

Additionally, organisationsare now looking in new areas to boost their digital capabilities, with a large percentage of tech workers coming from Australia, India and Singapore.

Recommendations for TA Leaders in APAC

  • Increase your focus on diverse hiring to offset population decline in traditional markets.
  • Improve diversity by providing more female leadership roles.
  • Grow your own strategy for wealth relationship managers. Start this at Early Careers stage. Then train and invest in Early Careers and Campus (EC&C) candidates, as there’s fierce competition for this group.
  • Consider India for digital talent. The market here is growing and there’s much investment. Many global banks have already tapped into this new supply of digital talent.
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NORTH AMERICA

Adapting to the change in job markets

For many years, the North America banking business has been the world’s largest financial market. It benefitted from a strong global economy and decreased interest rates that boosted profit margins, as well as affordable credit that resulted in a surge of Merger and Acquisitions’ activity. To cope with this demand, banking experienced unprecedented hiring, adding to increased talent costs.

But all that has now changed. Due to increased interest rates, reduced spending and shifting global economics, banks are being more selective in their hiring, evolving from a volume-based approach to a strategic one.

Major North American banks have cut roughly 20,000 jobs in 2023 due to reduced market activity and economic uncertainties.14

In addition, this new approach is changing the way banks are doing their hiring. Automation and digital products are now doing much of the heavy lifting, helping to stack and rank candidate searches for instance.

Much of this new TA modernisation is being driven by the banks’ HQs. They want to create greater hiring efficiency, removing time-consuming and costly activities so TA teams can provide a more strategic service for the business.

The return to office

Many sectors are struggling to get employees to return to the office. Banking is no exception.

Before the pandemic, remote working was rare. Even more so in banking institutions. During COVID-19, banks had little choice but to allow a more flexible approach due to an inability to mandate office attendance.

Many banks are now bringing talent back to the office on a flexible basis, typically requiring three days in the office. However, a recent survey of financial services executives revealed that 66% of employees would quit their current positions if forced to go back to the office full-time.15

As a result, many banks are vying for the much more rare talent that wants to return the office, especially those in front-office roles. According to the GFCI 35 rankings, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Diego and Boston all sit in the top 30 financial centres globally. Most interestingly, Toronto and Montreal have seen significant increases in their rankings to appear in the top 30 globally for the first time. 16

60% of net job growth by 2030 may come from the 25 mega-cities and high-growth hubs, even though they only have 44% of the population.17

The rise of digital

Like every market, the North American banking sector is investing heavily in digital transformation. They are trialling new technologies – including AI, robotics process automation and predictive analytics – to increase efficiencies.

They’re also improving their hiring processes. In a competitive talent market, creating a better hiring experience will enhance the ability to attract new talent. In addition, these advances will improve team efficiency, reduce labour-based costs and create more scalable models for TA departments. According to Aptitude Research, 63% of companies are investing or planning to invest in AI solutions for talent acquisition in 2024, compared to 42% in 2020. Use cases include generating inclusive job descriptions, summarising data, sourcing, generating personalised email templates and new hire onboarding experiences.18

Recommendations for TA leaders in North America

  • Create new attractive propositions in key locations (and establish global centres) which can tap into different talent segments at potentially lower costs.
  • Ensure you are keeping pace with competitors in digitising your TA operations. Automating response handling and interview scheduling can release investment for more strategic, higher value TA activities.
  • Consider your location strategy. North America headquartered banks have typically retained a higher proportion of resources in high-cost locations than other sectors.
  • Explore the efficiencies and scalability of other near/offshore locations for administrative and non-hiring manager facing tasks.
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INDIA

Technology driving growth

One of the biggest developments in the Indian banking industry has been the adoption of technology.

Due to a lack of skilled workers, the government launched Skill India in 2015 to ensure Indian workers were ready for the future. This program has not only provided help with reskilling and upskilling the population, it’s also encouraged growth in the sector.19

This increase in tech talent means many global banks are shifting their centres of excellence to India as talent in other markets has dried up. This is also more cost-effective for accessing the digital skills needed to ensure competitiveness. In fact, Michael Pizzi, MD and Head of US Banks and Technology for Morgan Stanley, cited India as the best market outside the US for tech talent, particularly cloud computing and generative AI, for multinational banking firms.20

India’s access to a large, cost effective , diverse and high-quality talent pool positions it to become the world’s leading workforce provider, with its workforce expected to reach 1.1bn by 2050.

New trends emerging

Many new trends are now emerging in the Indian workforce.

Remote working, which was once unheard-of in the market, has become more acceptable since the pandemic, with many businesses accepting there’s a need for a work-life balance. Also, diversity has become an increasing priority in TA.

Around 88% of Indian professionals are now considering a new job in 2024, up by 4% from 2023, indicating a shift in attitude towards career growth, according to a recent LinkedIn study. Better work-life balance and higher salary are the key motivators for changing jobs, while individuals are also open to opportunities outside their industry or role.

Transitioning towards digital-first

India’s drive to become a digital-first economy isn’t slowing down. Even though it took off later than the US and UK, there’s major investment in digital transformation. According to a 2024 report by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), India has secured the position of the world’s third-largest digital economy, trailing only the US and China. With one of the world’s largest digital talent pools and a government eager for digital adoption, investment in tech talent is set to continue to rise.

The Indian Banking sector is seeing the emergence in digital banking, cyber security, AI, data analytics and many more digital technologies. According to Bersin’s Labour Market Insights report on Consumer Banking, demand for talent in these areas is increasing exponentially, with roles like front-end engineers and data scientists becoming sought-after positions.21 With this growth expected to continue, many large investment banks (e.g. Deutsche Bank, The NatWest Group, UBS, J.P Morgan, Goldman Sachs etc.) are investing heavily in their Indian infrastructure.

Recommendations for TA leaders in India

  • Consider increasing your investment in your India infrastructure as seen by Deutsche Bank, The NatWest Group, Lloyds Banking Group and Goldman Sachs in the last 48 months.
  • Differentiate yourselves in the India tech skills market – technology innovations are making banking organisations a sought-after career move for many millennial and Gen-Z candidates. We’ll see more sustainability and eco-friendly strategies in sector EVPs to attract Gen Z and millennial workers.
  • With increasing competition from the international banks, Indian TA organisations will need to become more flexible to attract the best talent, offering more flexible working and remote working, and considering gig workers for agility and expertise.
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Conclusion

The future of banking talent

Today’s banking regions have a number of considerations and challenges to address when defining their future talent strategies. 

In the UK and EMEA, Brexit has meant many large banks have relocated to European cities, creating a surge in hiring requirements in these locations. The US is still grappling with uncertainty and is changing its approach to hiring, using technology to do the heavy lifting so TA can become more strategic. APAC hiring levels are recovering but are still way off pre-Covid levels, with new growth in the high-net worth market. While India’s investment in technology skills is attracting interest from all over the world, with major banks moving operations to the country.

But while each region has its challenges, there are also new opportunities emerging that banks can take advantage of. 

Talk to AMS

AMS is a trusted TA partner for global banking institutions wanting to enhance their talent capabilities. We work with some of the leading banks from around the world and have a deep understanding of the talent market. If you are looking for supporting in building a robust talent strategy for your region, get in touch today.

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