More than half of all new IT jobs being created in the UK financial services sector are at investment banks – over three times more than in high street banks.

IT staffing company ReThink Recruitment found that a combination of offshore outsourcing of IT functions and a lack of new technology-enabled services since the advent of online banking have contributed to the low level of IT job creation in high street banks. Because of offshoring, IT staff with both business and technical skills are at a premium.

However, ReThink’s Jon Butterfield, thinks retail banking will soon come out of its current trough: “Spending on IT security is being ramped up over the next few years and development of new ATM services and banking-by-mobile phone should see demand for IT staff in the retail banking sector climb.”

While technology has not been a competitive tool in retail banking in recent years, in investment banks there is a different perception. These financial giants tend to develop and customise their own IT infrastructure, a pattern that creates a high demand for internal skills, rather than a reliance on standard software packages.

Of some surprise is the fact that the insurance industry is creating 18% of financial services IT jobs. Paper is still prevalent in many of the business processes in insurance, but as these processes are updated and digitalised, demand for IT staff is expected to swell.