FSI believes in the importance of working with financial services companies to help upskill their workforce through our funded initiatives and HR best practice forum. FSI's goal is for ‘Ireland is a global leader for talent and skills in financial services companies’.

FSI will work to promote:

  • Increasing the talent pipeline to meet industry’s current and future needs
  • Continuous training and upskilling, particularly through third level institutions and the IFS Skillnet
  • New avenues into the sector, such as the IFS Apprenticeship Programme
  • Work permit and visa reform and, initiatives to attract mobile talent to/back to Ireland
  • Improving quality of life and associated infrastructure to attract and retain talent
  • Ireland as a premier location for sourcing leaders focused on future challenges of the sector

How to get involved / Working groups

The FSI HR Forum is a best practice forum for HR professionals in financial services sector.

The HR Forum provides a valuable networking opportunity for HR professionals in the financial services sector as well as providing an opportunity for information and best practice exchange on such issues as regulatory developments, recruitment, retention, induction, training, development, reward & recognition.

Members are given updates and overviews of existing and upcoming legislation in addition to best practice through interaction with Ibec employment lawyers who make submissions on behalf of Ibec members. The group meets up to four times a year.

Please contact Carolyn Doumeni on +353 1 605 1605 or firstname.lastname@ibec.ie to learn more about this forum.

IFS Skillnet supports the sector in maintaining Ireland’s position as a top international financial services centre, through ongoing investment in the development of the skills and expertise of this workforce. The network can benefit your business with improved training performance at higher quality and lower cost, up to 30% off training and 80% off course development. IFS Skillnet is co-funded by Skillnet Ireland and member companies.

Since 2009, IFS Skillnet and member companies have invested over €10 million into training for the sector. It has provided training to over 11,000 participants over 100,000 training days spanning 1,000+ courses.

The network is led by a steering group made up of representatives from member companies along with FSI, FIBI, Irish Funds, Insurance Ireland and IAIM.

The aim of IFS Skillnet is to:

  • Enable companies to collaborate and create new learning opportunities for the sector
  • Provide a forum for companies to work with providers to develop industry relevant programmes
  • Provide a strategic lead and focus for the development of skills in the sector, ensuring the Irish operations remain globally best-in-class, are competitive internationally and continue to create employment
  • Provide a strategic rapid response platform for industry leaders and education on training providers to create new solutions to skills required in the market
  • Support the transfer of knowledge both within and across companies in the sector and to raise the overall pool of competence within the sector in Ireland

For details on courses - http://www.ifsskillnet.ie
For more information Donna Noonan, Network Manager, firstname.lastname@ibec.ie or 01 605 1678.

The IFS Apprenticeship is a two year, nationally accredited and professional work-based programme, designed to meet employers’ skills needs in analytic and entry-level roles. On successful completion of the programme, apprentices receive a Higher Certificate in International Financial Services (NFQ Level 6) or a Higher Diploma in Financial Services Analytics (NFQ Level 8) from the National College of Ireland.

For details on programmes click here.

The Ibec Labour Market and Skills Council is a senior standing committee on all labour market and skills issues with responsibility for critical areas and overseeing policy campaigns from school reform to employee relations, apprenticeships to gender-balanced leadership, higher education quality to incomes policy.

Membership of this Council is by invitation only, please contact Kara McGann for further information (firstname.lastname@ibec.ie). 

Few areas of business have become as complex and as centrally important as the human resources and employee relations areas. Ibec provides a wide range of employer services based on expert knowledge about real, immediate people management issues.

We supply comprehensive tools and guides which will enable you to build your people management capabilities and reduce your exposure to disputes and penalties.

For more information, visit Ibec’s employer hub.