Why are risk and Compliance professionals moving jobs?

Looking to take advantage of a thriving hiring market? With an acute candidate shortage and opportunities at an all-time high, now is the best time to capitalise on the demand of the market and uncover the job that matches your career priorities, supports your work-life balance and meets your salary and benefits expectations.

Emily Hamburg, Senior Manager of Risk & Compliance recruitment at Robert Walters, shares the top 5 motivations for professionals to change jobs.

Greater confidence in the jobs market

Professionals working in risk & compliance have always been able to take advantage of a buoyant jobs market, with roles emerging cyclically in relation to evolving and emerging regulations. However, during the pandemic, risk & compliance professionals were by nature, risk averse, and so reluctant to move jobs in an unpredictable recruitment market.

In a post-Covid recruitment market, we’ve seen senior hires pick up pace across financial services, with managerial and director level candidates now ready to take the next step in their career.

Career progression

Progression opportunities are now seen as the key differentiator for risk and compliance professionals open to their next move. With no vast change in salary and bonus packages between financial services firms, it’s fast-track promotion and greater role exposure that professionals are scrutinising when choosing between roles.

For example, roles are now becoming available where professionals are more closely aligned with the front office, rather than solely working within the second line. This is opening up career paths for risk and compliance professionals, on one hand helping them gain a key commercial perspective and key stakeholder skills, as well as greater role credibility and progression opportunities by business partnering with revenue generators.

Work-life balance

Having a positive work-life balance is the most important consideration for risk & compliance professionals looking for their next opportunity. 63% of professionals cite hybrid working options as more valued than having an attractive benefits package or an inspiring company culture.

Financial services firms are now actively promoting their hybrid working policies, with the 5 day working week something of the past. The majority of candidates we support are looking for a blend of office and home-based working to support their work-life balance and are prepared to take the leap for financial services wholeheartedly committed to hybrid working.

Breadth of role

Candidates we support are consistently looking for more challenging work, for example senior professionals that feel siloed and only have responsibility for a single business unit. Roles with more scope with responsibility over a wider remit are seen as more attractive and offering greater exposure, with training opportunities to develop key soft skills (for example project management) as well as technical skills.

Now or never

As businesses have transitioned to a post-Covid working era, barriers that deterred professionals from moving jobs have been removed. Financial Services businesses have now established successful digital onboarding programmes for remote workers to assist training, and it’s now possible to meet your new colleagues face-to-face, develop new relationships and embed into a new team.

Looking for your next move in Risk and Compliance and want to know what you should be expecting? Discover your earning potential across financial services firms with the Robert Walters Salary Guide.