Outplacement in banking and insurance

The financial sector is changing fundamentally. Banks are closing branches, merging and digitalising processes. Insurers are investing in artificial intelligence, modern IT and new business models.

Banking and insurance have shown visible digitalisation for years. What is happening now, however, goes much further: it is no longer only about mapping processes digitally. Artificial intelligence, automation, new competitors, consolidation and changing customer requirements are changing value creation itself.

For specialists and executives, this marks an important shift: it is no longer the previous function alone that determines the professional future, but the ability to deal with the new demands of the financial market.

Banks are under considerable pressure to change

Consolidation continues in the German banking sector. In 2025, the number of credit institutions in Germany fell by a net 39 to 1,329; 34 mergers alone contributed to the decline. The Deutsche Bundesbank cites digitalisation, cost pressure and changing customer behaviour as drivers.

Classic branch structures are being reduced, processes centralised and digitalised, while digital customer channels, specialised products and automated processes gain importance. For employees this means: the classic banking job has not disappeared — but its content is changing.

Insurance shows a different picture

Interestingly, the insurance industry is currently developing differently in terms of employment: the total number of employees rose by 1.6% in 2025, by 1.6% in office roles and by 1.0% in salaried field sales. This does not mean the industry is spared from structural change — on the contrary.

Around a quarter of employees belong to the baby-boomer generation. At the same time, the share of job profiles with an AI focus rose from 5% to 21% within a year, and IT staff grew by 11.5% between 2022 and 2024. The insurance industry is not simply cutting work. It is reshaping it — some activities are automated or changed while new competencies emerge.

AI is changing finance — and not just the back office

According to the Bundesbank, 54% of companies in the finance and insurance sector already used AI in 2025 — an above-average share. It is used for internal chatbots, text generation, fraud detection and customer contact; at insurers, additionally for:

• claims processing
• customer service
• risk assessment
• data analysis
• fraud detection
• product development
• automation

The competency question shifts from “Who knows the insurance business?” to “Who can combine insurance or banking with technology, data and new business models?”

Job cuts and skills shortages can coexist

A company can cut functions and hire new people at the same time — for example when processes are automated, branch structures reduced, shared services formed or IT competencies built up. This changes the composition of the workforce: less standardised case processing often goes hand in hand with greater demand for IT, data, risk or transformation competence.

For those affected, the decisive question is therefore not only “Which positions are being cut?” but: “Which skills are becoming more important in their place?”

Your market value is greater than your job title

Specialists and executives from banking and insurance often define themselves strongly through their previous function. Yet a job title usually conceals far more broadly applicable competencies:

• A Head of Lending often combines risk management, portfolio steering, regulation, leadership, process optimisation and digitalisation.
• A Head of Claims brings experience in operations, customer service, process management, automation, quality management and leadership.
• A Head of Compliance has regulation, governance, risk management, transformation, stakeholder management and leadership.

Take a former “Director Operations Bank”. A conventional job search targets only banks. A competency analysis, by contrast, makes visible process optimisation, digitalisation, cost reduction, regulatory transformation, leadership of large organisations and change management — and thus additional target markets: fintech, insurance, consulting, payments, shared services, technology-driven providers and other regulated industries.

The decisive step: start not from your previous job title, but from the problems you can solve for a company.

Which competencies are becoming more important?

Structural change above all raises the value of competencies that connect technology, business and regulation:

• Data competence & AI — data analytics, machine learning and the practical use of generative AI.
• Digitalisation — digital products and processes as an integral part of the core business.
• Cybersecurity & IT risk — named a priority by supervisors, including DORA implementation.
• Risk & regulation — regulation is becoming more complex and, at the same time, must be implemented more efficiently.
• Transformation — leaders who can actually deliver digital and organisational change.
• Customer focus — the interplay of AI and human advice in the sales model of the future.

Which target industries are interesting for finance experts?

Job cuts do not automatically mean leaving the financial sector. But looking beyond the industry creates additional options:

Experience from banking & insurance	Conceivable target industries
Operations	consulting, industry, technology, shared services
Risk	industry, energy, infrastructure, consulting
Compliance	regulated industries, pharma, energy, technology
Finance / controlling	cross-industry
Digitalisation	fintech, insurtech, software, industry
Data analytics	technology, retail, industry
Customer management	B2B services, technology
Transformation	cross-industry
Sales	B2B, fintech, technology, professional services
Governance	regulated companies, infrastructure, industry

Risk, compliance, governance and transformation in particular transfer very well across industries.

A different logic applies to executives

For executives, the previous industry matters even less. A Head of Compliance is hired not just for knowing particular rules, but because they build governance structures, reduce risk, steer transformations, implement regulatory change, lead international stakeholders and develop organisations.

For board members, managing directors and division heads, positioning should rely even more on results and change competence. Not “20 years in banking”, but for example: “Executive with many years of experience transforming complex financial organisations, restructuring, digitalisation and international organisational development” — provided the actual career supports it. The industry provides the context; the impact achieved provides the market value.

What affected professionals should do after job cuts

Especially in finance, a fast, broad application offensive is rarely the best first step. A structured approach is more effective:

1. Analyse your competence base. What can I do beyond my previous job title?
2. Quantify your achievements. Which results have I delivered — reduced costs, faster processes, lower risk, teams built, transformations delivered, revenue increased?
3. Identify transferable competencies. Which skills are relevant beyond my previous institution?
4. Define target markets. Which companies need exactly these competencies?
5. Sharpen your personal positioning. How do I want a potential employer to perceive me?
6. Use the hidden job market. At leadership and executive level, networking, executive search, referrals and direct approaches are especially relevant — the core of our KARENT PLACEMENT approach.

What professional outplacement consulting can achieve

A separation after a restructuring often comes with a particular challenge in finance: the previous career is very clearly structured — and therefore strongly focused on one function or industry. Professional outplacement helps to widen that focus: assessment, competency and target-market analysis, repositioning, executive positioning, network and interview strategy.

The change in finance also opens new career paths

In banking, mergers, digitalisation and cost pressure already have concrete effects on organisational structures; at insurers, employment is currently even rising while new competency profiles emerge through digitalisation and AI.

The future of the financial sector is not simply about fewer jobs. It is about different jobs, different competencies and different forms of value creation.

Job cuts end a position — not automatically a person's professional market value. The decisive task is to make that market value visible in a new environment. Especially in an industry undergoing profound change itself, professional repositioning can be the decisive step.