Financial-services employers are becoming more selective about junior hiring. Automation can now perform parts of the research, data processing, monitoring and administrative work traditionally given to graduates and early-career employees.

The numbers show why this deserves management attention. Randstad found that financial-services job postings requiring 0-2 years’ experience fell 24% from January 2024, while demand for professionals with 10+ years’ experience increased 6%. More recent evidence from cybersecurity points in the same direction: employers are increasingly seeking experienced professionals as AI handles more routine work.

For Forex/CFD brokers, FinTechs, payments firms and investment companies, this creates a strategic problem:

If every company wants experienced specialists but fewer companies train juniors, who becomes the experienced specialist five years from now?

1. Cutting Junior Roles Can Solve Today’s Cost Problem and Create Tomorrow’s Talent Problem

Routine work has traditionally served another purpose besides getting the work done: it trained people.

A junior Compliance employee learned by reviewing files before handling difficult cases. A junior dealer observed market conditions before assuming greater responsibility. A finance graduate learned reconciliations before analysing management information. Junior technology staff developed judgment by working alongside experienced engineers.

AI can remove some of those tasks – but employers still need a mechanism through which people acquire the underlying knowledge.

The issue is already visible in cybersecurity. A September survey of more than 500 CISOs reported by The Wall Street Journal found that more than 80% expect AI to create demand for new cyber roles, while employers simultaneously favour more seasoned professionals as routine junior tasks become automated.

Employer implication: before eliminating an entry-level position because its repetitive tasks can be automated, identify how the organisation will develop the skills previously learned through that position.

2. Redesign Junior Jobs Instead of Simply Removing Them

The answer is not preserving inefficient work to keep junior employees busy.

It is redesigning early-career roles.

Instead of spending most of the day manually assembling information, junior employees can use automation and spend more time on interpretation, investigation, communication and supervised decision-making.

Large financial institutions are already moving in this direction. UBS is requiring graduate and intern candidates entering Global Banking and Markets from 2027 to demonstrate practical AI proficiency. The requirement is being added alongside traditional analytical and academic expectations rather than replacing them.

At the same time, Santander’s current graduate programmes continue to use structured internships, rotations, mentoring and exposure to experienced professionals to develop future talent.

Employer implication: redesign junior roles around AI-assisted execution + supervised judgment + structured learning, rather than choosing between traditional junior work and no junior hire at all.

3. Experience Requirements Need to Be Realistic

There is another danger: employers increasingly asking junior candidates to arrive with skills that historically were developed after joining.

This can produce the familiar recruitment contradiction:

Junior position – 2-3 years’ relevant experience required.

The problem becomes more serious in specialised sectors.

A brokerage may want a junior Compliance candidate who already understands CySEC, AML, MiFID II and DORA. A payments company may expect prior PSP and KYC experience. A junior technology candidate may be expected to understand cloud infrastructure, AI and financial-services regulation.

But someone has to provide the first serious opportunity.

Employer implication: for junior vacancies, separate what candidates genuinely need before joining from what a competent employer should be capable of teaching them.

4. Your Best Future Specialist May Already Be Inside the Company

Specialist shortages make internal development increasingly important.

DORA provides a good example. PCN’s 2026 analysis estimated 150-200 open DORA-related positions against an addressable pool of roughly 100 suitably qualified professionals in the German market examined.

Every employer competing for the same small pool is not a sustainable solution.

Some organisations may be better served by identifying strong people internally – perhaps from Compliance, Risk, IT, Internal Audit or Operations – and deliberately developing them into Operational Resilience, ICT Risk or Third-Party Risk specialists.

The same principle applies to dealing, payments, treasury and financial technology.

Employer implication: whenever a specialist vacancy is difficult to fill, ask a second question alongside external recruitment: Who inside our organisation could become capable of doing this job within 12-18 months? That question should become part of workforce planning.

5. Recruitment and Learning & Development Can No Longer Operate Separately

The traditional model is straightforward:

HR recruits somebody who already possesses the required skills; the department manages them afterwards.

In a rapidly changing skills market, that separation becomes less effective.

Employers increasingly need to decide:

Which skills should we buy from the market?
Which should we build internally?
Which can AI augment?
Which capabilities must remain deeply human?

The answer will differ by function.

A Head of Dealing may need substantial existing market and leadership experience. A junior Compliance professional can learn parts of the regulatory framework under experienced supervision. A payments specialist may move into fraud or risk. A strong developer can learn brokerage infrastructure. An experienced Compliance professional can develop DORA expertise.

Employer implication: recruitment planning should include a build-versus-buy talent decision before a vacancy is advertised. Not every skills gap needs another external senior hire.

Conclusion

AI may allow financial-services firms to operate with leaner teams. But leaner should not mean eliminating the pathway through which the next generation gains experience.

Forex, CFD, FinTech and payments businesses still need future Compliance Managers, MLROs, Heads of Dealing, Payments leaders, Finance Directors, CTOs and Risk professionals.

Those people do not appear automatically with ten years’ experience.

Companies that combine selective external recruitment with structured junior development, internal mobility and AI-enabled learning may be better positioned than organisations competing indefinitely for the same limited pool of experienced professionals.

The talent question for 2027 is therefore not simply:

Who can we hire today?

It is also:

Who are we developing for tomorrow?

Building Your Forex or FinTech Team?

FXCareer specialises in recruitment across Forex, CFD, FinTech and regulated financial services, including C-suite & executive leadership, Compliance & AML, Dealing, Payments, Finance, Risk, Technology, Operations, Legal and Marketing.

Whether you need an experienced specialist, a senior executive or emerging talent with the potential to develop into a critical future role, FXCareer.eu can help identify professionals with relevant sector experience and potential.

Key Sources

Randstad – 24% decline in Financial Services junior roles spurs shift to an AI-driven skills-first revolution, 22 September 2025
https://www.randstad.com/press/2025/24-decline-financial-services-junior-roles-spurs-shift-to-an-ai-driven-skills-first/

The Wall Street Journal – As AI Filters Into Cybersecurity, Companies Seek Out Seasoned Workers, 16 September 2026
https://www.wsj.com/pro/cybersecurity/as-ai-filters-into-cybersecurity-companies-seek-out-seasoned-workers-408af3b3

Financial Times – UBS Demands New Junior Bankers Show AI Proficiency, 6 September 2026
https://www.ft.com/content/76b370ff-b5f6-4e22-aa30-da08b1abb8f8

Santander – Graduate Programmes / Future Talents, 2026-27 intake
https://www.santander.com/en/careers/where-you-want-to-create-an-impact/santander-future-talent/graduate-programmes

PCN – DORA Talent Outlook: Supply, Demand, and Skills for Digital Operational Resilience, 5 February 2026
https://teampcn.com/market-insights/dora-talent-outlook-supply-demand-and-skills-for-digital-operational-resilience/