The Fintech Talent Development,Competency, and Manpower Study

The Fintech Talent Development, Competency, and Manpower Study 27 Ten Observations About Fintech in Hong Kong Observation 4: People Capability Lags Behind Tech Capability Our survey found that most industry players perceive their technological capability (e.g. infrastructure system) to be on par with or better than others in the industry. In particular, 96% of the surveyed digital-native organizations reported their technological capability as being on par with or better than other organizations in the industry, while the same was reported by 68% of the surveyed traditional banking organizations (Exhibit 6). On the other hand, our survey found a much larger gap in people capability of the industry, particularly in the middle management and junior levels. Specifically, less than half of the surveyed traditional banking organizations (42%) and digital-native organizations (46%) reported that their people capability at the managerial level was meeting all or almost all of their business requirements. The percentages drop even lower to only around one-third in people capability for individual contributors. This result is particularly alarming as individual contributors constitute the majority of the workforce and yet, the gap in capability of individual contributors is the largest. The above findings suggest that while the majority of those surveyed have the required technological infrastructure and systems in place, most of them are struggling in the area of people capability. Many of those interviewed said that insufficient people capability is posing a great challenge to their growth. Exhibit 6 Comparison of people capability and technological capability in the fintech industry Digital-native organizations Traditional banking organizations Senior management 68% 75% Individual contributors 38% 32% 68% 96% Managerials 42% 46% a) People capability meeting all or almost all of their business requirements* *Refers to a rating equal to or higher than 6 on a 7-point scale, in which 1 = "Our people capability is meeting none of the requirements". 4 = "Our people capability is meeting half of the requirements", and 7 = "Our people capability is meeting all of the requirements." #Refers to survey respondents who reported their technological capability as "on par", "marginally better", "better" or "industry leader". The other options for the survey question include "significantly behind", or "marginally behind". b) Technological capabilty (e.g. infrastructure, systems) on par with or better than others in the industry#