The research from Davies, the leading specialist professional services and technology business serving insurance and highly regulated markets, found that while 70% of respondents agreed that their organisation has a positive supportive culture, 63% felt that more encouragement was needed to attract younger people to the financial services industry.

The research also found that the top challenge when attracting top talent was meeting/exceeding salary, with 43% of senior leaders citing it as a challenge.

Other key challenges relating to retaining and developing talent included offering a balance between remote and on-site work (38% of senior leaders citing it as a challenge), offering comprehensive benefits packages (36%), demonstrating clear career development opportunities (35%) and caring for employee mental well-being (33%).

The digital skills gap was another area of focus for the survey, which found that while 65% of those in middle management (or lower) positions believe they have sufficient digital skills to excel at their job, 63% of senior managers believe lack of digital skill is an issue in their workforce, with 30% describing it as ‘a very serious issue’.

Commenting on the research, David Leen, Regulated Markets, Davies, said: “Ultimately, the findings show that organisations must overcome many challenges if they are to attract and retain the best talent. Offering competitive salaries is important but businesses must focus on developing a rounded offering to present to prospective and current staff if they want to win the fierce battle for talent.”

Craig Potter, Senior Partner – Professional Education, Davies added: “That such a high proportion of managers have identified the need to attract younger talent to the sector shows that this is an ongoing and urgent challenge. Financial services organisations must be able to compete with other industries to attract the most talented individuals. As such, they need to have strategies in place not only to recruit younger colleagues in the first place but to develop and nurture them effectively, paving the way for a new generation of senior leaders.”