Nearly three quarters of bank executives here say skills shortages are posing a challenge, particularly in non-traditional banking roles.
According to the results of a survey carried out by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, 72% of executives said they are experiencing or expect to experience shortages in key areas of their operations.
The shortages are most acute in the areas of digital skills, regulatory and compliance and risk management.
The skills gap is most apparent in international banks with 45% of respondents saying they were finding it difficult to access talent in the digital skills area which includes data analytics and artificial intelligence, as well as in the area of regulatory and compliance.
Only 14% of respondents reported challenges in accessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) or sustainable finance skills.
More than half - 58% - of participants said they would usually address skills gaps by hiring new employees with those skills, while around one in five said they would recruit graduates or apprentices and train them.
A quarter of respondents cited upskilling or reskilling existing staff as their staff management priority.
Staff training is also used to address skills gaps, with about 44% of respondents saying they would usually respond by upskilling or retraining current employees.
"The findings signal that competition for key talent is likely to intensify especially for non-traditional banking roles such as IT, with rising demand for technical skills such as data scientists, analysts, programmers, as well as specialised areas such as AI and ESG issues," Brian Hayes, CEO of the BPFI noted.
"Banks in Ireland attract a high number of college graduates, with 15.4% of 2022 honours degree graduates working in financial, insurance and real estate activities a year later, according to the Higher Education Authority. Given that there was a vacancy rate of 2.5% in these areas in Q2 2023, almost double the rate of 1.1% for all private sectors according to the CSO, and with the skills composition within banks evolving rapidly, there will likely be growing opportunities for graduates in non-traditional banking roles including AI, data analytics and sustainable finance," he added.
Mr Hayes concluded that attracting a broad range of talent would be central to banks' future growth and stability.
