Financial services firms in crisis due to exodus of senior managers
Niamh Cray, chief people officer, Auxilion.
Financial services firms are struggling to cope with serious talent retention challenges, with huge numbers of senior managers on the move, a new survey has found.
Some 61% of senior managers working in financial services in Ireland are planning to change jobs within the next two years, according to a survey conducted by Auxilion, the Irish IT managed services provider.
In fact, most companies in the sector are already in a losing battle to retain top talent, with around 59% of senior managers having changed jobs in the past year, while 80% have interviewed for another job during the past six months.
The financial services sector’s talent crisis is such that 66% of these senior managers have said they would retrain in a new career/profession if there were no barriers (e.g., financial or family commitments).
The study involved 200 senior managers in financial services (18+) in the Republic of Ireland. The survey was conducted by Censuswide, who collected the data in February 2025.
Niamh Cray, chief people officer, Auxilion, said: “Our research reveals a real risk to financial services firms in terms of talent. Not only are a significant proportion of senior managers contemplating leaving, but many are already actively seeking out new opportunities — indicating that it’s only a matter of time before the impact is felt.
“Companies in this sector in Ireland need to address this, otherwise they could be facing a mass exodus and a resource crisis.
"Those without a blended talent strategy, consisting of in-house expertise and external resourcing services, could seriously struggle to replace and fill roles with the expertise they need.”
- 59% have changed jobs in the past year.
- Some 80% have interviewed for another job during the past six months.
- Almost a third do not believe their job will exist in five years’ time.
- 26% are not happy with their current work style.
- 69% feel under pressure to be in the office more.
When it comes to how respondents plan to find these new roles, 71% have previously used recruitment agencies and that trend appears to be continuing with 70% intending to use such services to secure their next position.
"However, these next positions may not be around forever with the study finding that almost a third (32%) of senior managers working in financial services do not believe their job will exist in five years’ time," noted Niamh Cray.
Moreover, 26% revealed they are not happy with their current workstyle — with those working remotely found to be significantly less happy than their in-office counterparts. Whilst 78% working in the office are happy with their workstyle, just 55% of those working remotely are happy.
As for the debate between office and home working, 69% of senior managers working in financial services feel under pressure to be in the office more. This was felt more by those taking a hybrid approach to working (70%). It was also felt more prominently among those who work in larger companies (81%), compared to those working in SMBs (64%).
On a wider scale, some 42% of senior managers working in financial services in Ireland cited talent shortages as one of the biggest challenges to business growth in 2025.
Niamh Cray added: “It’s not just a case of lost personnel, the impact could spell project delays, customer complaints, and operational inefficiencies. It’s therefore important from both an organisational and market perspective that we not only retain the best people but remain agile in our approaches to talent.”
In January, Auxilion secured a €10m investment that will see the Irish company create 30 new jobs as part of an ambitious three-year growth strategy.
The company will use the investment to enhance its offering in the areas of process modernisation, AI, automation and data management.
The 30 new roles will be used to expand the company’s teams across Ireland and the UK. The roles will predominantly be across the operations and sales teams as well as roles that will support Auxilion’s enhanced modern workplace and AI offering.
