From the great resignation to now the great layoff – how the contingent can help fill key talent gaps

The great resignation has seen a mass migration of talent shift, due to changing landscapes that have been impacted by social economic factors driven by the pandemic. Better work-life balances and more emphasis on self-development became key for working individuals as they reviewed career paths as new post-pandemic norms stabilized. Many US entities are now experiencing a great layoff, which is set to continue in the first half of 2023.

So why has this shift in talent developed and how can the contingent workforce fill key talent gaps, especially in financial crime departments?

Why have hiring trends led to the great layoff?

Simply put, it is to keep as little staff as possible with the same output. Job losses and hiring freezes are mostly concentrated in industries most sensitive to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy of raising interest rates to reduce inflationary costs, even in an economy experiencing growing inflation.

Tech industry layoffs demonstrate how quickly inflation and interest rates are having a negative impact on the balance sheets of the previously rapidly expanding companies of the Covid era. Realistically speaking this is not possible socially when it comes to compliance. Heightened threats and regulation mean no cuts should be made to core compliance staff.

Compliance teams may be leaner, but threats will be stronger in 2023.

Despite being highly regulated the Financial Services industry can be unpredictable with organisations often encountering unforeseen disruption whilst having to adhere to strict legislative demands and deadlines. 2023, will see an increase in financial crime threats so keeping compliance talent will be essential. Financial crime never sleeps so your financial crime and compliance teams need to be well-versed and prepared for new risks and strengthened AML and KYC processes and systems. This however can be challenging for many entities.

In order to remain compliant, it is increasingly important for financial institutions to undertake detailed assessments, putting measures in place to ensure potential risk is minimised. In such a rapidly evolving industry there is a consistent rising demand for specialist knowledge and skill sets.

In parallel, many financial service institutions have opted to reduce headcount adopting a leaner, more cost effective, workforce model. However, addressing certain projects with this reduced internal resource and existing skill sets can present challenges.

So how can the continent workforce help with the BAU gap in talent

As businesses struggle to stay up with the continuously shifting regulatory and risk environments, financial crime roles are increasingly among the most sought-after contingent placements in the financial services industry.

Overwhelming regulatory and policy demands and increased cyber threats have meant that more staff support was and is very much needed. Many financial institutions have turned to the contingent workforce to help in areas of weakness or areas where they do not have enough in-house ability to cope with added demands.

As firms hunt for certified specialists in compliance, AML, KYC, and EDD to help strengthen financial crime compliance procedures and systems, the sector has seen seismic expansion over the past few years.

There has been a significant rise in financial crime contingent resource requirements globally, with Firms acting quickly to set up new hiring methods that accommodate the shifting personnel scenario, which includes more financial crime, increased regulatory demand, and additional BAU work because of the pandemic’s delays.

Contingent staff offer key skills and a bigger pool of talent which allow for BAU to resume, but also allow for outsourced teams to be set up quickly to complete added work demands being placed on firms.

 The contingent workforce will be essential for new business models, new hiring models

Companies want more flexibility in their talent investments, but they are also dealing with a scarcity of specialised talents. As a result, new hiring models are including contingent talent as part of new hiring strategies. Therefore, the importance of contingent workforces cannot be overstated.

Past events can only forecast the future to a limited extent, but what we can see from present workforce trends and developments is a shift in both hiring and keeping key staff. The past two years have proven the importance of the contingent workforce to financial services.

Global leaders in contingent talent

At Momenta we are continually building our ecosystem of validated, contingent financial services associates with the optimum industry skill sets, readily available when additional specialist support is needed.

Whether you require resources to assist with large scale remediation or front facing customer service roles, our associates’ extensive experience delivers results, on time and cost effectively.

With an enviable record for placing the highest caliber of personnel, Momenta is trusted by both top quality candidates and clients for:

1. Specialist knowledge of current financial services industry insights, understanding client needs and delivering the relevant professional skill sets.
2. Consistency delivered through our robust and scalable Financial Services professional resourcing process, ensuring you receive the same high quality standard whether you require 1 or 100 associates.
3. Cost effective solutions using our contingent resourcing model or our specialist offshore capabilities with full vetting, validation and quality control standards applied to both.
4. Global availability ensuring you have 1 point of contact to provide high caliber associates for your worldwide resourcing requirements.

Momenta have worked with multiple companies across industries globally, successfully building their contingent workforce. If your business has been impacted by additional regulatory or compliance pressures and needs additional staffing support in your claims handling and risk/compliance departments, speak to us to see how we can help in supplying experienced and effective members to your team.

 

 

 

 

Works cited:

•  Ann Richardson, Mary. “From the Great Resignation to the Great Layoff: What Ails the Tech Industry? |.” Spiceworks, 23 Nov. 2022, www.spiceworks.com/tech/it-careers-skills/articles/great-resignation-to-great-layoffs/. Accessed 4 Jan. 2023.

• Liu, Jennifer. “After the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, the Era of “Loud Layoffs” Is Here.” CNBC, 30 Nov. 2022, www.cnbc.com/2022/11/30/after-great-resignation-and-quiet-quitting-loud-layoffs-are-here.html. Accessed 4 Jan. 2023