Beyond the Talent Shortage—What BFSI Firms Are Really Facing 

76% of UK financial services firms are struggling to fill IT roles—yet what’s more concerning is what this talent gap is really costing them: missed growth opportunities, longer innovation cycles, and mounting operational risks. 

The financial services sector in the United Kingdom and broader European markets is under immense pressure to accelerate digital transformation, meet growing compliance standards, and deliver secure, data-driven services to customers. But beneath the surface of these priorities lies a strategic constraint: the escalating cost and complexity of acquiring and retaining top-tier IT talent. 

According to Experis UK (2025), this issue is not simply about recruitment—it slows time-to-market, amplifies technical debt, and compromises long-term competitiveness and compliance. 

The Strategic Toll: Operational Bottlenecks and Long-Term Risks 

There is a 20% gap between tech talent supply and demand in the UK financial sector, meaning for every five roles needed, only four are filled (Hive Learning, 2023). This gap is most acute in AI, cloud engineering, and cybersecurity—areas that are central to long-term competitiveness. 

• Delayed projects: 72% of UK financial firms cite legacy systems and lack of IT talent as the top barriers to transformation (EY, 2024). 

• Security risks: 49% of firms identify cybersecurity as a top investment priority, yet over 60% report difficulty hiring for it (Accenture, 2025). 

• AI scaling issues: 78% have adopted AI, but 35% cannot scale beyond pilot due to internal capability gaps (PwC, 2024). 

These challenges force BFSI leaders into a difficult trade-off: either delay strategic initiatives or overspend on limited talent—resulting in missed revenue opportunities, suboptimal delivery, and increased vendor lock-in risk. 

Why Multi-Outsourcing Offers a Smarter Talent Strategy 

While many BFSI firms turn to outsourcing, the traditional single-vendor model is losing its effectiveness. The UK IT outsourcing market is projected to reach £44.6 billion by 2029, growing at 7.25% annually (Statista, 2024). Yet most firms still rely on a single-country delivery model. 

Gartner predicts that by 2028, 60% of organizations will shift to multi-country outsourcing to reduce geopolitical and operational risk (Gartner, 2023). 

Multi-outsourcing—engaging multiple vendors across different regions—gives BFSI institutions: 

• Faster access to talent: Multi-sourcing accelerates hiring cycles by 3–4 months versus traditional in-house recruitment. 

• Cost efficiency: By blending offshore and nearshore rates, BFSI firms can cut up to 50–70% in staffing and upskilling expenses. 

• Technology specialization: Distributes workload across expert hubs in AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and DevOps to optimize solution quality and delivery speed. 

A KPMG 2024 global survey found 68% of BFSI leaders reported improved access to tech talent through multi-sourcing. 

Why Vietnam Should Be on Every CIO’s Radar 

Vietnam is quickly becoming the preferred “+1” destination to complement India’s dominance. According to HackerRank (2021), Vietnam ranks in the Top 3 globally for AI coding skills. The country also offers: 

• A young, tech-savvy workforce with strong English proficiency 

• Favorable time zone alignment with Europe 

• Government-backed support for IT and digital infrastructure 

Vietnam’s strategic value lies not in replacing Indian vendors, but in complementing them—enabling BFSI firms to expand delivery bandwidth while balancing risk, talent availability, and costs. 

How CMC Global Helps BFSI Firms Build Future-Ready Teams 

CMC Global is a strategic outsourcing partner with deep BFSI expertise and delivery centers in Vietnam—empowering UK firms to scale transformation securely and sustainably: 

• 3,000+ engineers across AI, cybersecurity, DevOps, and banking platforms 

• Flexible models: From staff augmentation to managed services 

• Regulatory-grade security: Aligned with FCA, PRA, and GDPR standards 

• Global delivery experience: With successful BFSI projects across the UK, EU, and US 

We’ve supported BFSI clients in implementing 24/7 banking fraud detection systems, accelerating onboarding journeys by 40%, and scaling AI systems from pilot to production. 

Let’s connect to explore how multi-outsourcing can optimize your IT workforce strategy—and help you turn today’s challenges into long-term competitive advantage.