The financial sector offers university graduates good prospects - despite overall declining or, at best, stagnating employment. As regulations have increased significantly, compliance experts who prevent economic and representative harm are in demand. Likewise: risk managers, IT and sales specialists
“For the entire banking sector, we expect a slight decline in employment figures as in previous years,” says Ingolf Jungmann, Vice President of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. However, this does not affect university graduates, but rather positions in low-wage areas wherever processes are highly standardized. There is “no exorbitant growth” in offers for academics, but there is a slight increase. Jungmann describes the entry opportunities for graduates across all banking groups as good compared to previous years: “The banks are offering trainee positions to the same extent as before.”
Particularly sought after: compliance and risk management experts, IT specialists and “academics who want to prove themselves in sales”. Since there are more acquisitions and IPOs again, demand in investment banking has also increased slightly after years of stagnation. “Young people who are particularly committed to their subject matter during their studies have always strived for this,” says Jungmann. The highest salaries, the biggest career advancements and the glamor factor are all attractive here.
According to the Employers' Association of the Private Banking Industry (AGV), the number of people working in the banking industry has fallen significantly. While the AGV last had 645,550 employees (at the end of 2013), ten years ago there were around 50,000 more, although the downward trend has recently stabilized. However, the financial crisis has not changed the popularity of banks: “Most Frankfurt School students with economics degrees still want to work at a bank,” says Jungmann. Particularly popular: internationally active banks; even higher: international banks in Germany that offer jobs in London or New York.
Traditionally, large private banks employ the most academics, but the proportion of academics is also increasing at public institutions and cooperative banks. Example: Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken. They are primarily looking for economists, for example “for looking after high-end private and corporate customers or for bank management,” says Elmar Görtz, head of human resources management at the Federal Association of German Volksbanks and Raiffeisenbanks: “A focus of study in 'banking and finance', 'financing' or 'Controlling with a focus on finance' is advantageous. Due to digitalization, other disciplines, such as computer science, have also become more interesting for banks.”
In addition, other financial service providers are also seeing influx, “especially from graduates who have had a more cautious view of banks as a result of the financial crisis,” says Jungmann. Across all industries, young professionals with a business degree are in demand as highly qualified experts. However, salaries have taken a “side step”. Although fixed salaries were increased, variable components such as bonuses were reduced. Depending on the university, degree and employer, beginners receive an average starting salary of between around 45,000 and 60,000 euros, which can quickly increase after the first few years in the job.
There are still problems with young talent in young areas. In recent years, the Münchner Hypovereinsbank (HVB), for example, has set up a compliance department with more than 200 employees, which has been training six to eight trainees every year since 2013: “We have always managed to fill the trainee positions,” says Oliver Simon, head of human resources development at HVB, “but with more effort than in investment banking or business with corporate customers.” This is because the program is not yet well known and compliance is still seen as something “indefinable,” “there Many people don’t know how far-reaching the tasks are.”
These are not limited to control, but also include information and advice for a wide range of departments, for example when creating materials for customer communication. “In compliance, specialist expertise is important,” says Simon, “the employees work in many departments and accompany all steps within a process, as they are familiar with the legal framework and have to understand the entire business. As a result, they build up tremendous knowledge and gain insights into a wide variety of areas of a bank.”
Knowledge that insurers also need: they are also looking for specialists in compliance, as well as in risk management, accounting, controlling, IT and sales. “Employment in the entire insurance industry has been consolidating slightly for the last two to three years,” says Michael Gold, managing director of the Employers’ Association of Insurance Companies in Germany. “Overall, insurance companies behave in a smoothing manner, which means that they do not build up as much as other industries and therefore do not decline as much.” According to Gold, there will be a slight decline again this year, especially in low-skilled positions. The number of academics, on the other hand, is growing: Overall, their proportion has risen from 15 percent (2003) to 23 percent (2013).
“The prospects for academics in the insurance industry are good to very good,” says Gold, “even if you can sometimes read about job cuts in the newspapers.” Economists make up the largest proportion, followed by lawyers and mathematicians. Not to be neglected: graduates with other degrees, as insurance is a “house of 100 professions”. According to a study, Kienbaum's consultants are currently particularly in demand as financial and actuaries.
However, the image remains a problem: insurers are not among the most popular employers among graduates, as is the case with car manufacturers, for example. “When someone works for an insurance company,” says Gold, “they usually don’t want to leave. Insurance is often love at second sight.”
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The financial sector offers university graduates good prospects - despite overall declining or, at best, stagnating employment. As regulations have increased significantly, compliance experts who prevent economic and representative harm are in demand. Also: risk managers, IT and sales specialists “For the entire banking sector, we expect a slight decline in employment figures as in previous years,” says Ingolf Jungmann, Vice President
