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Every other new employee quickly leaves the financial sector

After five years, half of the new employees over the age of 30 leave the financial sector. And that is a problem, says the President of Finansforbundet.

19. May 2025
3 min

Every other new employee over the age of 30 working in banks and mortgage credit institutions is gone again after five years.  

This is evident from new figures released in connection with Finansforbundet's skills survey "The financial labour market of the future". 

And Dorrit Brandt, President of Finansforbundet, is surprised. 

“Even in a time when changing jobs is a natural part of working life, this is a high level. I'm actually surprised that we're not better in this sector at retaining new employees and colleagues," she explains. 

Employment has increased slightly in recent years, and this has boosted the influx of new employees. But the figures show that, after just one year, around one in five employees waves goodbye to their job in a financial services enterprise, while, after three years, the number is around one in three.  

In other words, it is not about mobility within the industry, but an actual loss of labour. 
“It is thought-provoking that employees leave the sector at a time of labour shortage. "The companies should pay great attention to this trend," warns Dorrit Brandt. 

(Artiklen fortsætter efter boksen)

A problem across functions 

And the problem of retention is a general trend across job functions. 
While IT employees stay a little longer than other groups, the turnover rate is slightly higher for front-end employees. The scores of staff and specialist functions are in between these two groups. 

“For many profiles, the sector is in fierce competition with many other knowledge-intensive industries. That's why it's important to insist that the financial sector is a good place to work; conditions and skills enhancement opportunities are advantageous, career paths clear, flexibility a matter of course and work is fundamentally full of purpose," says Dorrit Brandt. 

“The financial sector lives off its employees and their skills. "That's why recruitment is absolutely crucial in a financial services enterprise, but so is retention."
- Dorrit Brandt, President of Finansforbundet

The initial phase is key 

The figures apply both to employees hired in 2013, but also to newer cohorts such as 2018, 2019 and 2020. And there is no sign of significant improvement in retention over time. 

“The financial sector lives off its employees and their skills. That's why recruitment is absolutely crucial in a financial services enterprise, but so is retention," says Dorrit Brandt, pointing out that workplaces are required to be attractive, meaningful and offer the right development opportunities. 

At the same time, she believes that it is important for new employees to feel welcome and well-received from the very first day on the job. 
“The initial phase at a new workplace is crucial. This is when integration into tasks, culture and community matters. This phase is important, regardless of whether it's your first job or you have changed jobs for the fifth time. Owing to more job changes, a sharper focus on onboarding and retention is required from the beginning,” explains Dorrit Brandt. 

Finance Denmark: Fails to recognise the problem 

At Finance Denmark/Employer, Morten Schønning Madsen, director, does not immediately recognise the picture drawn. 

“We see that as a sector, we generally have a low job turnover and find it easy to recruit, compared to other industries,” he writes in a response to the newsletter Finans.  

He points out that some job turnover is positive because he believes it creates ambassadors of the financial world in other important industries.  

“And because it allows our companies to bring in new talents and skills.” 

Morten Schønning Madsen believes that employees in the financial sector are in high demand because they have skills that are also requested outside the sector.  

“It's actually positive that a job in the financial sector can also be a career path to new challenges. It only becomes a problem if companies cannot retain the employees they want or attract the right talent. "There is nothing to suggest that retention and recruitment are general challenges for us – quite the opposite," he claims. 

Emner

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