The 2011 Environment Scan conducted by Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) has predicted strong growth in the Financial Services sector,  forecasting that industry revenues will grow at an average rate of 5.3 percent to reach $212.5 billion by June 2015.

 

This follows a strong performance by the finance and insurance sector over the past decade,  which has achieved an average annual growth rate of 4.8 percent between 1999 and 2009 – well above the all industries average and contributing $81 billion annually to the Australian economy.

 

The report noted that strong expansion of the Financial Services industry over recent years has aided growth in related sectors such as communications, property and business services.

 

“The importance of the industry is expected to increase, driven by growing household wealth and an ageing population using an increasing array of financial services and products.”

 

Currently the Financial Services industry, comprised mostly of finance and insurance businesses,  employs a workforce of more than 408,000 people – around 3.7 percent of the total Australian workforce. The report highlighted some of the skills issues that face the industry.

 

“Prior to the economic downturn, Financial Services organisations had been targeting mature age recruits from outside the sector to address projected skills shortages – workers aged 55-64 years increased by 164 percent in the 10 years to 2009.31 The resumption of this strategy is likely as the economy recovers, which will serve to increase labour market pressures on other industries.”

Other factors which will impact on skills include:

  • Changing regulatory requirements, and likely future changes, eg recommendations from the Super System Review Final Report and establishment of the Tax Practitioners’ Board.
  • Changes to visa arrangements for international students holding Australian accounting and financial services relevant degrees may reduce the numbers of graduates available to satisfy employer demand. These changes, which took effect from 01 July 2010, effectively oblige students to demonstrate higher levels of English language competence than was previously required.

 

IBSA is one of eleven Industry Skills Councils funded by the Australian Government to advise Skills Australia, government and industry on workforce development and skills needs. It focuses on the six industry areas of Business Services, Education, ICT, Cultural & Related Industries, Financial Services and Printing & Graphic Arts.

 

The Environment Scan report combines direct industry intelligence with statistical data on training and workforce participation to identify skill needs and workforce development priorities for Australia’s innovation and business industries.

 

The IBSA Environment Scan 2011 is available at http://www.ibsa.org.au/news-and-projects/environment-scan.aspx