Helaba financial centre study: ‘Bank employment on the rise – despite shortage of skilled workers’

Frankfurt’s bank employment will increase by 4% to around 73,500 employees by the end of 2025

Declining employment momentum due to demographic factors will only manifest itself in the medium term

Concerted commitment to more training and further education in the financial centre is important

Despite a shortage of skilled labour, employment in Frankfurt’s banking towers continues to grow. This is thanks to broad-based recruitment strategies. The high number of bank trainees in Frankfurt and in Germany is also an expression of the challenging situation that the sector is facing due to demographic factors. At the same time, there is a structural shift towards a ‘high-skilled workforce’, meaning that local institutions have an increasing need for specialists.

‘We expect a significant increase in bank employment in Frankfurt in the coming years. Only in the medium term can we expect a slowdown in the expansion of the workforce in view of demographic trends,’ states Dr Gertrud Traud, Chief Economist at Helaba. Recruiting skilled workers from abroad is therefore just as important as expanding the local talent pool.

Helaba Research & Advisory estimates that there will be around 73,500 bankers in the metropolis on the Main by the end of 2025. This represents an increase of 4%, or around 2,800 more jobs compared to the last available data at the beginning of 2024, meaning that Frankfurt will clearly remain the leading banking centre in Germany in terms of employment.

The German financial centre has a lot to offer young talent. Nevertheless, in view of the high demand for experts, even more qualification opportunities should be created in a targeted manner and forces pooled to this end. ‘Frankfurt’s continuous development as an important institutional centre in international finance offers the opportunity to make a name for itself, particularly in areas such as sustainable finance or combating money laundering,’ summarises Ulrike Bischoff, author of the study. A concerted commitment to more intellectual infrastructure strengthens the financial centre – with a positive effect on its international success.