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On Friday 3 May, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke TD and Minister of State for financial services Neale Richmond TD welcomed the expert group on future skills needs (EGFSN) publication on the skills needed for Ireland’s international financial services sector (IFS).
The IFS sector includes more than 430 companies, of which 300 are multinationals and produce exports worth more than €11bn.
Overall employment in the sector has grown from 35,000 in 2014 to 56,000 in 2022, a 60% increase.
Increased employment
It is estimated that employment across the seven high growth-potential IFS sub-sectors within the focus of the assessment will expand by between 5,900 and 9,300 persons, reaching between 59,000 and 62,500 persons by 2027.
The report highlighted an annual shortage of graduates in relevant disciplines from the education system estimated at between 800 and 4,300 persons could arise by 2027.
As well as this, there are skill and occupational needs that may not directly be addressed by current education and training provision.
Skills shortages
The report also sets out detailed analyses of skills required by each of the seven high-potential sub-sectors identified in the study.
At the occupation level, the professional skill gaps highlighted by firms included accountants and tax experts; actuaries, economists and statisticians; financial accounts managers; financial analysts; legal professionals; IT professionals; senior asset/portfolio management and investment professionals; and anti-money laundering professionals.
Commenting on the launch of the report, Minister Burke said: “Ireland’s IFS sector has its origins in the IFSC in Docklands and has grown over the past 30 years to an estimated €11bn worth of exports, equivalent to 6.3% of GDP.
“Implementing the recommendations in this report will help the sector maximise its potential over the next five years. I would like to offer my support to the implementation group that is currently being set up to drive these actions forward, following the launch of the report today.”
Minister Richmond added: “People are at the centre of the international financial services sector and we need to ensure that not only do we have enough skilled workers to meet the needs of the sector, but also that there are skills, qualifications, education and training programmes in place to ensure that we have a pipeline of talent that can allow the sector to thrive not only now, but into the future.”
Full report available here.
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