Hiring At Top Dollar Could Backfire
Financial services firms could meet barriers to growth if hiring at top dollars is their main response to technological challenges, says Singapore's minister of manpower.
Individual employees should not be the only ones who should pay attention to the ways that data analytics and automation could impact jobs, C-suites and human resource managers should also map out how these changes could impact entire organisations, said Josephine Teo, minister of manpower.
«The dominant strategy for many financial services firms has been to go out and hire at top dollar. But if this your primary response to the tech challenge, I’m afraid you will soon hit roadblocks,» said Teo, who was delivering a speech at «The Future of Finance Jobs» conference.
Transforming One's Workforce
As the demand for tech skills will grow faster than supply, Teo urges leaders and human resource (HR) managers at finance and banking firms to do serious workforce planning by understanding their gaps. If HR plans to help their companies to succeed, she suggests building up its workforce and not just buy solutions.
«Build systematically and buy selectively... you are more likely to win the race this way,» she said.
Focus On Tasks, Not Jobs
When discussing technology and the future of jobs, the most frequently asked question is: will technology create jobs or destroy jobs? But this question misses a key point, said Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS, who was also delivering his opening remarks at the launch of the study on «Future of Finance Jobs».
«The question misses the main point – which is that technology affects tasks within jobs rather than entire jobs,» Menon said. «Many of the jobs we have been doing all these years have not disappeared, but the tasks we do within jobs have changed substantially because of technology. And these new tasks require new skills.»
MAS and IBF Study
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) has commissioned Ernst & Young to study the impact of data analytics and automation - the two most immediate technologies - on jobs in the financial sector.
The study reviewed 121 distinct job roles in the financial industry, examining how data analytics and automation are likely to change the individual tasks in these 121 job roles, over a three to five year time horizon.
