On 14 July 2026, HMT published the financial services skills compact (the Compact).

Background

HMT sets out that the Compact reflects a shared agreement between government and signatory firms to work together to close skills gaps in UK financial services.

Summary

The Compact asks signatory firms to take action to close skills gaps through initiatives to build the skills that are critical to the success of the sector and ensuring sufficient pipelines of skilled talent, the commitments are that signatory firms should:

  • Commitment A: Ensure all of their workforce is future-ready by upskilling them in AI and other critical skills over a rolling three-year period.
  • Commitment B: Maintain and/or grow structured routes into their organisations for new talent.
  • Commitment C: Assign one member of their senior executive team as responsible for closing skills gaps.
  • Commitment D: Publish annual updates on progress against these commitments.

The deadline for reporting progress against these targets is 30 November each year until 2030.