24/05/23

GUERNSEY: Almost one thousand people leave finance sector.

As published on itv.com, Tuesday 23 May, 2023.

The number of people working in Guernsey's finance sector has dropped by more than thirteen per cent over the last six years, according to government figures.

Finance is Guernsey's biggest employer and in 2016, nearly 7,000 people were employed in the industry - making up around 20% of the island's work force.

However, last year that fell to 5,960 people working in the sector - a drop of 935.

A former managing director of Skipton Guernsey says outsourcing and automation are to blame and that the downward trend should be examined properly.

"Over the years banking in particular has seen a massive reduction in size," says Andrew Lindsay.
"There used to be 74 banks in the mid 90s. There's less than 20 now."

Andrew added: "All the clearing banks used to have many branches in the island. Now they have one, maybe two branches and of course that's led to massive reductions, so it's a combination of automation and also outsourcing as well to cheaper locations."

In Jersey, almost 14,000 people were working in finance and law in 2022 - making up 22% of the workforce.

There were an extra 880 employees compared to in 2016.