Financial services is hiring for depth, not entry-level breadth. The latest government review of shortage roles found that in the financial services sector, recruitment was generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles, rather than RQF 3 to 5 GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report. In plain terms, RQF 6+ sits at degree level and above, so firms are reaching for qualified, experienced people rather than filling a pipeline of junior posts.
That shift matters when a new brief lands on the desk. Financial wellbeing, helping customers understand, plan and cope with their money, is moving from a nice-to-have into core banking work. When the demand is already weighted towards senior, qualified roles GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report, adding a fresh specialism to the brief makes a tight market tighter. Employers who move early get first pick of the people who can do it.
Financial wellbeing cuts across several teams at once. Think product managers who design savings and budgeting tools, data and risk specialists who spot customers heading into difficulty, customer-facing colleagues trained to have supportive money conversations, and compliance leads who keep it all within the rules. Most of these sit at the senior, qualified end of the market that the government review flagged GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report, so you are competing for people who are already in demand elsewhere.
The dynamic to watch is overlap. One person rarely covers product design, data, regulation and customer empathy. So the brief becomes a small team, not a single hire, and you need each part to join up. That raises the bar on how you define roles and how fast you move, because strong people with this blend do not stay on the market long.
Start by writing the brief around outcomes, not job titles. Describe the problem you want solved, helping customers avoid arrears, say, or building a budgeting feature people actually use, and the skills shift into focus. Because the sector leans towards RQF 6+ roles GOV.UK - Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report, screen for proven judgement and regulatory awareness, not just a long CV.
Above all, keep the process short and clear. Every extra week of silence is a week a strong person spends talking to someone else.
We search 15 million candidates to surface people who match this kind of blended, senior brief, and we manage the process end to end so you can move at the speed the market demands. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost, through Reed.ai. If financial wellbeing is landing on your brief this year, talk to us and let's build the team for it.
