Almost 60% feel they’ve been denied a promotion due to lack of digital skills

58 per cent believe they’ve been denied a promotion due to lack of digital skills, according to research from strategic talent solutions partner FDM Group.

Alongside this, 58 per cent of workers believe that their organisation doesn’t have enough time to train staff effectivity, with younger staff feeling particularly neglected  as 70 per of those between 18 and 24 agree.

The findings were revealed by a survey of 250 decision makers at UK financial institutions and banks, polled via independent polling agency Censuswide, to discover how the Financial Services is being affected by the current skills crisis.

To solve issue, 91 per cent of workers claim that their organisation offers upskilling or reskilling opportunities to staff, promoting in-house development.

63 per cent of workers believe that the costs of upskilling or reskilling are too high and have prevented their organisation from offering these programmes. This worryingly jumps to 94 per cent between 18- and 24-year-olds.

A further 84 per cent of workers believe that their organisation would benefit from outsourcing digital training for staff in order to keep costs down while providing sufficient training opportunity.

It was also revealed that three quarters of workers believe that staff have resisted new technology due to a lack of understanding or digital skills, of which 86 per cent of 18-24-year-olds agreed.

Sheila Flavell CBE, Chief Operating Officer for FDM Group, commented:

“Tech skills have become essential across all industries, in particular the financial services with the increasing adoption in areas such as AI and analytics. The scarcity of skilled tech professionals is holding back the industry from effectively implementing new technologies, ultimately stunting the growth of many financial services institutions.”

“Bridging the widening digital skills gap is an important area for businesses to prioritise. Promoting measures such as access to digital skills training programmes can empower staff development and give them the foundation to take up highly skilled roles in banking, FinTech and financial services.”

“Outsourcing digital training to staff and providing access to training and upskilling can offer a wider pool of staff the opportunity to improve their skills, plugging the skills gap within the industry. Solving the skills gap faced by businesses in the financial services sector isn’t an overnight task, but it is important to deliver constant progress towards solving this issue and propelling the industry forward” Flavell added.