The business case for re-skilling: unlocking opportunities for women in tech

Welcome to our second chapter in the spotlight series celebrating colleagues who are inspiring change and accelerating action across the technology sector!

This blog will reflect on the recent roundtable hosted by FinTech Scotland in partnership with the City of London Corporation Women Pivoting to Digital Taskforce, chaired by Vicky Gorman, Chief Operating Officer at FinTech Scotland and Deborah O’Neill, Head of Digital Europe and Partner, Oliver Wyman. The Taskforce brings together business, government, third sector, and industry groups to bring more attention to and action around supporting women from non-technical backgrounds to pivot to digital roles. The aim is to address the underrepresentation of women working in digital careers by providing women with vital skills to future-proof the digital workforce. 

The values and objectives of the taskforce are something that FinTech Scotland very much align to and we jumped at the chance to co-host this discussion in Scotland and engage our colleagues across the cluster. . The dialogue highlighted the importance of reskilling, clear pathways into digital careers, and the power of collaboration in addressing the digital skills gap. This is a very important topic that we’re looking forward to addressing alongside our strategic partners.

The Business Case for Re-skilling

The discussion began with a summary of the current landscape, with one example highlighting the financial benefits of internal reskilling. Employers can save over £49,000 by upskilling existing employees rather than hiring externally. The benefits of up-skilling were detailed further by one participant who shared their experience transitioning from a tech background into the financial services sector, describing their seven-month learning curve to get used to financial jargon and industry knowledge, a timeframe which could have been significantly reduced if organisations had re-skilled internal talent familiar with the business context. 

Breaking Barriers: Women and the Digital Skills Pipeline

A key theme that emerged was the difficulty women face in accessing clear pathways into digital roles. The Taskforce’s research revealed that even for those already interested in tech, the lack of guidance remains a barrier. However, a deeper issue was highlighted: many women don’t even consider digital careers due to misleading job descriptions and preconceived notions about what a tech role entails. There is an urgent need for businesses to reframe job postings and provide accessible entry points into the industry.

The Fintech Landscape and the Skills Gap

The discussion then turned to fintech, highlighting that the FinTech Scotland Cluster recorded an 8% year-on-year employment growth in 2024 bringing the total number of people working in fintech to over 11,300. Despite this growth, talent acquisition and skills development remain significant challenges, with research revealing that only 21% of Scottish businesses feel equipped with the right digital skills for the future.

We also heard from Kylie Scott, Lloyds Banking Group, on her inspiring journey successfully pivoting into a digital role. It was fantastic to hear about the support she was provided throughout this journey by her colleagues across Lloyds Banking Group, demonstrating the critical role of a support network and organisational backing in facilitating career shifts. 

Collaboration: The Key to Sustainable Change

The latter part of the discussion explored employer-led reskilling initiatives, hiring from non-traditional routes, and the role of government-business collaboration. A recurring theme was the need for collective action. The group consensus was the digital skills challenge cannot be solved by individual organisations working in silos – highlighting the cluster model of collaboration across organisations, education providers, and policymakers is essential to drive meaningful progress. 

Next steps

The City of London are calling all women who have ever thought about, or work in, a digital or tech career to action by responding to their Women Pivoting to Digital survey. Survey results will underpin the Taskforce outputs, providing on the ground insights and understanding around why women may or may not be interested in career-changing to tech role (in any sector!) and the barriers to making this change. We encourage you to respond to this survey, and share with your network as we focus on strengthening representation across Scotland. 

There was a resounding agreement across the discussion on the importance of continuing to promote and celebrate role models across technology roles and in financial services. We are delighted to be driving forward this action through this monthly campaign and will be continuing to spotlight colleagues across the cluster who are Accelerating Action and contributing to progress on this important agenda.

Finally, there are already valuable initiatives across the cluster driving progress on this important issue. Our goal is to expand on the success of our Women in Tech Campaign by highlighting organisational strategies that support career transitions into digital roles. By doing so, we aim to encourage wider adoption of these impactful practices throughout the cluster.

February profile spotlight