LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Britain needs a new body
dedicated to filling skill shortages in financial services as
tech lures away talent and Brexit increases uncertainty, a
government-commissioned report said on Tuesday.
The review, commissioned by the UK finance ministry, said
Britain will lose out to rival financial centres and other
economic sectors unless collective action is taken to create a
more skilled and diverse workforce.
Restoring public trust in finance was also critical to
attracting skilled staff, the report said.
"While there are many examples of good practice, the
industry lacks the overarching vision, coordination and focus
needed to weather the megatrends transforming global business,"
said Mark Hoban, chair of a task force that authored the report.
An employer-funded and managed Financial Services Skills
Commission could lead "real change at scale", it said.
It would identify what skills were needed and the framework
to increase training for new and existing employees, and
"champion the sector as a great place to work".
The report found that financial services has a growing
skills gap, up 30% between 2015 and 2017, and only a third of
senior managers are women.
Around nine out of 10 financial services workers are white,
failing to reflect the mix of people in urban centres where many
people who work in the sector are based, the report said.
The financial sector is facing fundamental changes like
automation eliminating clerical and administration jobs.
Demand for specialist skills in data and tech is growing in
a sector that has a high reliance on imported talent, with over
12% of Britain's banking and finance workforce from the EU.
The unfettered ability to hire talent from the EU will end
after Brexit.
"In the short term, changes to our ability to access
overseas talent, as a result of Brexit, will present an
additional challenge as investment in our domestic talent will
take time to manifest," the report said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones)