1. Innovative 2. Reach of 3. Regulatory 4. Access to 5. Resilient business Our global offer to business: ecosystem 昀椀nancial activity environment talent and skills infrastructure London and the UK’s competitive 20 strengths supporting economic growth FPS companies need better digital Employee training is perceived Financial services is a key driver of skills in the workforce which must to be a lower priority in the UK growth in the UK. be addressed through training than in other GFCs, creating FS is one of the most productive and re-skilling. employee churn. industries in the UK. In 2022, it The digital skills gap is a global The UK does not prioritise employee produced £278bn of economic output problem that countries are training and, despite improving in – 12% of the UK’s economic output competing to solve. The UK is lagging 2022, the UK is lowest-ranked among and £177k per worker. London is the in digital skills and ranks behind GFCs for attitudes towards employee most productive area of the UK, with Singapore, the US, and Hong Kong. training according to a survey of productivity measured as ‘output The FPS industry has a particularly business leaders. Employers in the per job’. This is 40% higher than the high demand for digital skills: one in UK are more likely to view training UK average, but the UK ranks behind eight roles is now tech-reliant, twice and re-skilling as time taken away the US and Singapore in terms of as high as the wider UK economy. UK from an employee’s role. The culture productivity per worker. employers have a history of buying around training in the UK must be Source in skills, hiring new people rather addressed, as skills gaps continue to than re-skilling current employees. appear. The ‘redundancy and re-hire’ ONS 2023, ILO 2023 However, a tight labour market, approach observed across the FS particularly with global demand industry is costly and diminishes for digital skills, makes buying in international competitiveness. skills more expensive and does not Working practices in other 昀椀nancial address underlying gaps. Analysis centres see employees moved from the Financial Services Skills into growth areas at the same Commission shows that re-skilling company. Internal mobility instils and training could boost economic longevity of employment, retains output by £550m a year. company culture, and keeps valuable experience within the company. The UK ranks behind Singapore Source and the US in availability of skilled labour, however, this measure is IMD 2023 based on the total economy rather than the FPS industry. City of London Corporation engagement with the University of Leeds FPS industry indicates that a high amount of skilled labour is available in London. However, more can be only to Singapore in university quality. earning potential, however, and US The UK has one of the most highly- done to improve the wider UK labour respected education systems in the However, the UK has ten universities salaries are higher than in the UK. force through re-skilling. in the Times Higher Education top London Business School is ranked world and is home to the world’s 100 and 163 universities in total, eighth globally. Source top universities. whereas Singapore only has two. Source UK universities are ranked amongst IMD 2023, FSSC 2023 £550m £278bn The US has the highest-rated the best in the world, with Oxford Times Higher Education 2023, FT Global MBA business schools, taking eight of the Ranking 2023 annual increase to economic output of economic output from the University ranked top in 2023 for top ten places in the FT Global MBA by closing the UK FS skills gap FS industry the eighth year running. Among top Ranking. The FT ranking is based on 昀椀nancial centres the UK is second