From peer-to-peer lending and robo-advisors to digital banking and crowdfunding, fintech is redefining traditional financial institutions as Singapore charts its path to becoming a leading regional and global financial centre.

This has presented numerous opportunities to the financial sector, with consumers reaping the benefits of tech-enabled features and services that make it easier to invest, make payments or even get loans.

These new services have also spurred job creation in the industry, with demand for talent in user experience or user interface design, data analytics, and IT security.

However, the automation of services like investing or wealth management also poses a threat to the existing workforce, with existing roles at risk of being phased out or revamped.

Global fintech hubs like the US and UK have already experienced large job cuts over the past few years, due to industry-wide restructuring and automation of traditional banking roles.

The impact isn’t just limited to the West either. HSBC, the UK’s largest bank, is in the midst of cutting up to 35,000 jobs globally, as have Citigroup and Deutsche Bank AG.

These are pressing challenges that loom ahead for Singapore, too. In August, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) MD Jacqueline Loh emphasised that while financial institutions have managed to subdue retrenchment levels thus far, it is critical to start redesigning jobs and encouraging employees to acquire new skills to adapt to the pervasive use of technology in the industry.

As we continue to integrate new technologies and innovations in our financial space, how can local financial powerhouses embrace these developments that are turbocharging the future of finance? More importantly, how can we still ensure that our current and emerging talents transition well in this evolving landscape, and have a seat in the future of this sector?

The value of a “high tech, high touch” approach

While the tools of the trade have evolved in recent years, the underlying goals in financial planning and wealth management still remain largely the same. Many readers would agree that despite many financial services going digital, managing money is still largely a personal decision that requires trust, clarity and education from financial institutions.

As such, we have adopted a “high tech, high touch” approach where our clients can reap the benefits of tech-empowered solutions, with all the clarity and understanding of seasoned experts to guide them through their investment journey.

In this way, we believe that clients are engaged holistically through various touch points to cater to their investment needs, wealth management goals and trading preferences. This approach also future-proofs our own workforce as one that complements and breathes life into digital services, rather than existing as a separate component.

Beyond just serving the needs of the current generation, this “high tech, high touch” approach ensures that the workforce remains resilient and ready to provide a hyper-personalised experience for the next generation of customers, alongside needed financial literacy and advisory in what could be a less “interactive” financial landscape.

Keeping current talent up to speed

There are concerns that the rising demand for tech roles in the industry will outstrip our current workforce’s pace to build the relevant skills. Earlier this year, the MAS conducted a pilot employment outlook survey that projected hiring and job losses from July 2020 to June 2021.

The survey revealed that tech-related roles lead the hiring demand among financial institutions in the coming year, accounting for 49 per cent of new jobs created. These include intermediate level roles such as application developers and business analysts, which are roles that Singaporeans can potentially be trained for. While our current talent supply might not be able to fill more advanced and specialised roles, we can re-skill and up skill our mid-career professionals to take on the jobs of tomorrow, alleviating fears of being left behind in their existing roles.

In this regard, both companies and their employees have a shared responsibility in building a strong learning culture – one that incentivises adaptability and resilience among all employees.

On the part of companies, training and re skilling programmes are beneficial to help employees deepen their expertise and acquire new skills. Within our own organisation, we have developed training roadmaps across all job functions to meet both current and future skills and competencies, in areas like wealth management, tech-enabled financial services, and data analytics.

Also read: What will the next wave of VC investment in HR tech look like?

This creates opportunities for current talent to develop transferrable skills across domains in the financial industry, which can support their transition into existing jobs with new skill requisites, or new jobs which require different capabilities.

At the same time, these programmes can focus on developing soft skills in areas like critical thinking, problem solving and creativity – which allows our financial advisors and trading representatives to relate to customers, educate them, and value-add to the digital services. Having a blend of both will enable current employees to not only broaden their technical capabilities, but also adapt and excel in the fast-evolving industry.

As for current employees, wherever they may be in their career journeys, it is high time to seize these new opportunities created to deepen their knowledge and capabilities. Having an appetite for learning is lifelong, and a key ingredient for continued success and resilience in this ever-evolving sector.

Grooming future talent for the financial space

As a homegrown financial house, PhillipCapital remains anchored in Singapore’s financial landscape and is committed to contributing to the recovery and growth of our local economy. We are working to recruit and train 500 Financial Adviser (FA) Representatives, and have received applications from individuals of all walks of life, including fresh graduates, as well as mid-career switchers who are exploring a career in the financial industry.

Currently, we also offer SGUnited traineeships for both fresh graduates and mid-career professionals to gain exposure in the financial sector, as well as meaningful internships with interesting projects in areas like digital innovation. As Singapore continues its quest to become a global financial hub, we hope to play a role in grooming the future workforce to serve an increasingly diverse pool of clients, while building a strong and sustainable pipeline of local talent.

We are also working hard to deepen our digital capabilities, while supporting our talents to harness their potential to serve the next generation of clients. We have built a strong local talent pool of over 100 tech specialists and engineers, all of whom have been trained to leverage tech-enabled financial solutions to cater to a diverse range of customer needs and goals. As part of our continued efforts to raise financial literacy and awareness among both our employees and members of the financial space at large, we are also working closely with our innovation team to organise hack-a-thons and financial education programmes.

Also read: Fintech in Indonesia: While growth declines, companies continue to gain traction

Through these initiatives, we believe that we can attract the next breed of financial educators and professionals to deliver better customer experiences and more personalised engagements, which are ever more important in this digital age.

Prized skillsets for the next generation

These are truly exciting times, and a career in this fast-paced, dynamic industry can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Besides future-oriented skills such as data analytics and data visualisation, the next generation will also need forward-thinking attributes to learn, unlearn and relearn in an increasingly flexible, horizontal organisation structure.

Based on our experience, we have identified three key attributes that have helped our talents make their mark in the industry:

Eagerness to learn

Whether you are a fresh graduate, or looking for a career switch, there is a seat for you if you are open and willing to learn. This industry welcomes anyone with easily transferrable skills, even if they are not from a financial services-related background.

Adaptability to changes

Change is a constant in this industry, so it is important to always be on your toes and embrace new developments, especially when innovation continually pushes the financial sector to evolve. From big data and automation to AI and machine learning, there are boundless opportunities to explore and learn invaluable new skills to capitalise on fintech’s increasing integration with the industry.

Drive to impact lives

It is easy to get distracted or disheartened by the potential disruptions that from fintech, but instead, we can focus on the bigger picture and recognise its complementary value in serving our clients’ needs. The human touch is still vital in understanding and empowering our clients to take charge of their financial future. As such, the onus is on current and future talents to never lose sight of their ability to effect meaningful change in their clients’ lives.

Thriving in a tech-first financial space through literacy, inclusion, and flexibility

Singapore’s financial landscape is at a critical turning point, especially when new digital bank entrants are set to shake up our traditional understanding of banking processes and wealth management.

While we cannot foresee the technologies that will come, or the future roles that will open up, we can be ready to help clients adapt and make the most out of new technologies – be it for wealth management, investment, micro loans, or even business growth.

Whatever this might be, we believe that training the future workforce to prioritise financial literacy, financial inclusion and financial flexibility will enable them to engage clients holistically and meaningfully, such that both individuals and the industry can grow as a whole and embrace the rapid changes of fintech adoption.

In turn, we can turn job security risks into opportunities for growth and thrive with continued resilience in the financial sector.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Kevin Butz on Unsplash

The post How to prep the future workforce for a tech-first financial sector appeared first on e27.