The Fintech Talent Development,Competency, and Manpower Study

The Fintech Talent Development, Competency, and Manpower Study 87 Key Recommendations • Creating a competency model can help an organization utilize its manpower effectively to achieve business goals. The 13 core competencies of fintech are intended to be comprehensive and are relevant to different fintech organization settings and environments. Individual fintech firms can focus on those competencies that are relevant and compatible with their strategic goals and specific operating environment. • To attract the right talent, it is important for fintech firms to cultivate an engaging culture with a clear vision of their business. • Training and education initiatives should give priority to mid or low-level staff. While senior management is found to be capable in meeting business requirements in the fintech industry, managerial and operation level staff are lagging behind. • Cybersecurity, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Design Thinking are skills in acute demand. The industry, government, and education institutions should join hands in developing industry-wide training programs in these areas. These programs ideally are topic-specific with a short duration, and offered multiple times throughout the year. • A professional qualification on fintech could be developed to ensure that the skills and knowledge of professionals meet the need of the fintech industry. The qualification can include CPD (Continuing Professional Development) requirements so that fintech professionals are motivated to continue to learn and upgrade their skill sets. • To fill the talent gap quickly, fintech training and education programs could be delivered online. The industry, government, and education institutions should work together to produce a body of high quality content that can be adopted by the industry. • To update education programs in primary and secondary schools to ensure that Hong Kong has sufficient talent with the soft skills to help organizations and the fintech industry flourish. Soft skills take more time to master, and are best mastered when young. • To facilitate the diffusion of knowhow and expertise in the industry, a job board on fintech career opportunities could be created for job seekers to fill positions in the fintech industry. • Overseas and Mainland fintech professionals is a good source of talent. Given the shortage of fintech talent in the short and medium term, fintech could be highlighted as a priority area of the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP). • The industry, government, and universities should join hands to establish a leading fintech research institute to address fundamental intellectual issues with significant practical ramifications. Fintech is an emerging academic discipline involving finance, technology, regulation, and policy. As its intellectual foundation is under development, Hong Kong can become a thought leader in the global development of fintech.