City talent crisis ‘could cost London £66 billion’ by 2030

London could miss out on $90 billion (£66 billion) of City revenues by 2030 if it does not address the shortage of skilled finance and business workers urgently.

A study of talent scarcity across 20 major economies shows London is facing a shortfall of more than half a million workers in finance and business services by 2030, threatening its place as a centre of finance over the next decade.

The UK’s total labour deficit could reach three million by 2030, twice as much as France’s, according to the research by management consultancy Korn Ferry.

The figures do not take into account the Brexit cloud hanging over the City.

Matt Crosby, senior client partner at Korn Ferry, said: “Companies must act now to future-proof their business. Left unaddressed, the talent crunch will severely impact the growth of key markets and sectors across the region.”

Europe could lose out on $1.9 trillion in missed revenue opportunities by the end of the next decade.

The prospect of a huge skills gap opening up as the UK leaves the European Union has been one of the biggest worries that business has expressed, since for some time a large proportion of skilled and unskilled labour has been coming from outside the UK.

Korn Ferry’s research also reveals that the tech sector, where 31% of the workforce in the capital comes from outside the UK, is also heading for an acute shortage of skilled staff.

The European technology, media and telecoms sector faces a dearth of 700,000 skilled workers across Europe. The global tech sector could see an international labour shortage of 4.3 million tech workers by 2030.

The Korn Ferry study pours doubt on predictions that advances in technology including robotics and artificial intelligence could put millions of people out of work.

“The future will be built on the effective partnership between people and technology,” Crosby said.

If the UK’s prospects over the next 12 years look gloomy, Germany is facing an even greater talent crisis, with a shortfall of almost five million workers by 2030, which could cost it $629.9 billion in annual revenue, equivalent to 14% of its economy, if not addressed.

Only one nation, India, looks set to have a surplus of skilled workers in 2025 and 2030, putting it in a strong position to exploit the weakness of more developed economies.