A gap has opened for IT professionals in banking and finance as the industry adjusts to external pressures.
Specialists in digital business transformation are seeing their stocks rise, according to the latest salary guide from recruiters Davidson Technology.
Project managers can expect to receive yearly remunerations in excess of $200,000 while many change managers, agile coaches, and data analysts are on at least $100,000.
Increased digitalisation also means greater security risks.
According to a recent report, demand outstrips supply for cyber security experts, which is again evident in the Davidson salary guide.
Chief Security Officers for ASX200 companies are paid just shy of half a million dollars a year, and security consultants, engineers, and architects can make up to $250,000 – but expect no less than $115,000.
General Manager of Davidson Technology NSW, Spencer Stirrat, said the major growth trend for IT workers in finance can be partly traced back to the Banking Royal Commission, the final report of which was handed down in February.
“The Royal Commission produced a scathing report on Australia’s banking and financial services and the sector has responded by opening itself up to disruption on a scale never before seen in this area,” Stirrat said.
“As a result of this disruption, there is a demand for project managers, business analysts, data analysts and change professionals.”
He suggests that a sudden shift in need is resulting in gaps in the jobs market.
“The demand for IT and business transformation staff to fill specialist roles within the banking sector has increased exponentially,” Stirrat said.
“The flow-on effect of this is a quickly-diminishing pool of talent as the banking and financial services sector seeks candidates outside of their historical parameters to help them undertake large-scale remediation projects.”
Another kind of change
Unsurprisingly, information technologies are playing a significant role in the transformation of the traditional banking sector – a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Kenneth Hayne when considering recommendations in his final report.
“Many in the industry have recognised that technology is likely to play an important role in the future of financial advice, but there is not yet a clear picture of what that role might be,” Hayne said.
“Any recommendation directed to altering the current structure of the industry would need to grapple with the fact that the industry itself will very probably look very different in five years’ time.”
At the beginning of this month, major Australian banks began to allow customers more control of the data banks hold on them – making it easier for people to access and share their own information.
By February next year, the big four banks will provide access for all consumer, account and transaction data.
Regulatory body APRA has also issued new regulations to improve information security in an industry that has at times shown flagrant disregard for extremely sensitive private data.
The Commonwealth Bank was recently given a whack for its repeated mismanagement of customer information.
And a Westpac breach in June showed how susceptible new payment platforms can be to attackers.
Banks are also being challenged by new, digitally native business models like fintechs that have a higher level of agility and more ingrained understanding of the budding Australian start-up ecosystem.
