A recent survey commissioned by BANKSETA, the state-backed Skills Education Training Authority in the banking sector covering over 2000 employers in the banking industry reveals interesting trends which reveal how digitization in the banking industry is shaking up the jobs market.

Source: BANKSETA 2015 Survey

The results of the survey reveals a sharp decline year-on-year for Bank Teller job vacancies across the industry. This trend is further evidenced by reports of some of South African banks closing down bank branches and making further investments in technology.

The decline of the Bank Teller profession is somewhat being off set by an increase in demand for Customer Service professionals. A footnote in the survey says “The banking sector has mentioned customer centricity as a major change-driver of the industry with a need for professionals who can understand clients holistically.”

The most interesting finding in the survey, is arguably, the consistent growth in number of available IT professionals from 2012 to date. The vacancies that are hardest to fill – software developers, database designers and administrators, security specialists and systems analysts – all falling within IT, are driven not only by the demand for these skills across all sectors of the economy but also by the lack of banking experience among potential candidates.

A lack of suitably skilled candidates has forced the sector to import 1.93% of its workforce, including chief information officers, ICT business development officers, project managers, developers and programmers.

Next 5-Year Skills

Source: BANKSETA 2015 Survey

Technology is said to be the back-bone of banking operations with banks adopting “rigorous innovation practices” to maintain a competitive edge. As a result, future vacancies and skills requirements are likely to be skewed to IT even more.