A highly educated workforce and a location just minutes from Wall Street have helped make New Jersey a top choice for financial services companies. Many of the world’s leading companies have headquarters or significant operations here, including 14 of New Jersey’s top 75 employers.
In fact, the state has nearly 11,700 businesses employing approximately 182,400 workers in the finance, banking and insurance industries. With an annual average wage of $116,107, financial services workers are paid 19.2 percent more than sector workers nationally and 93 percent more than the state’s average wage for all private sector employment.
Our state has one of the most highly educated workforces on the planet, including a high concentration of workers with finance skills that make recruiting or staffing—for, say, a new corporate headquarters – a dream. While New Jersey’s educated workforce is a big asset for our economy, it would be a mistake to assume we will always enjoy such an advantage. That’s where the Financial Services Talent Network comes in. Its mission is to pair employers with workers who have the skills they need and to make sure people have skills that will be in demand in the future.
The Financial Services Network is one of six industry-specific networks created by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD). The networks’ mission is to bridge the gap between business and education so students and jobseekers have the skills they need for the modern workplace.
Financial Services, for instance, provides opportunities for people to get training for skills that are in demand in the industry. We’re not talking about bachelor and master degrees, either. According to LWD, well over 100 different types of occupations in New Jersey’s financial services cluster are in demand right now, and 40 percent of these jobs require only a high school education.
Another key aspect of its mission is to bring employers into the education process to make sure students and trainees are learning the right skills. The network helps develop employer-driven partnerships for training and curriculum development, identifies regional trends for which skills are “most valuable” and provides educational workshops for employers, employees and job seekers.
Now the network is looking for employers to become Industry Champions. It’s an opportunity to become a recognized state leader, enhance your brand and gain direct access to industry talent.