Hard and soft skill needs: higher education and the Fintech sector

This paper explores the implications for higher education of the emergence of new industries, driven by technological changes. The pace of technology-driven changes creates significant challenges for the alignment between the skill needs of industry and provision by higher education. Drawing on concepts from neo-correspondence theory, we examine the emergence of the FinTech sector. We present data from two structured interviews with 28 employers based in Ireland. What emerges from this study, is that the type and level of skills required by industry is changing faster than ever before. The level of competence required in hard skills is decreasing, as in-house training and continuous professional development requirements increase. However, there is a greater expectation that graduates will have advanced soft skills. Skill shortages exist, not because of poor industry-higher education relationships but because of a lack of understanding of employers’ perceptions, preferences, and expectations.