Non-managerial employees in the Finnish financial sector have typically been women, but the proportion of men is steadily growing. At the turn of the millennium, 85% of non-managerial employees were women. Now one in four are men. On the executive level, the proportion of women is over 40%, and on the managerial level, the numbers are even.
The information on employees in the financial sector is based on the FFI report Work in the Financial Sector 2020, which compiles data on employees and competencies from analyses and surveys made by FFI. The publication also utilises statistics and other publicly available resources.
The Finnish financial sector is a services industry that employs about 36,000 people. About 26,000 of them work in the banking sector, and 10,000 in insurance. The proportion of women and men in the sector is 64% and 36%, respectively. In recent years, the sector has been shaken by increasing regulation, the evolution of work, and technological development.
The typical Finnish financial sector employee has a qualification or degree in business, but recently more recruits have had a law degree or a background in the ICT and data professions. The number of ICT and data recruits will likely grow in the future, and the role of customer service professionals will become even more essential.
The evolution of work in the sector is the result of structural change and changing customer needs. When choosing their service provider, customers prioritise price, reliability, and online security of the services. Nine out of ten customers still want to keep the option of personal service in addition to online services.
In the future, the sector requires even more diverse skills. The skill requirements have been surveyed with a questionnaire that included a choice of five most important skills in the financial sector. Self-direction, digital skills and social skills were some of the top results.
Competitive salaries
Collective agreements and employee contracts are increasingly agreed on at company level. Overall, salaries and hourly wages in the financial sector are competitive, and performance bonuses are given to more than half of all employees in finance and to every three out of four in insurance. The sector’s average monthly salary is €4,446 while the median is €3,730.
According to an employer image survey conducted by T-Media, both employees and students view the sector as having good career opportunities, competitive wages and interesting job descriptions.
”The sector offers a good selection of interesting jobs. Employee retention is also good, and typically careers in the sector span decades”, says Katja Repo, director of competence development and digitalisation at FFI.
Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the sector provided nearly as many summer job positions as last year, through various remote working arrangements.
Work in the Financial Sector 2020 (in Finnish)
Work in the Financial Sector 2019
Still have questions?
|Contact FFI experts
