What’s Inside This Edition?
How Did the Year Go for Finance Hiring in 2025?
What Can We Expect from Finance Hiring in 2026?
How Did the Year Go for Finance Hiring in 2025?
Finance hiring in 2025 felt like driving with changing speed limits: quick bursts here, slowdowns there, and lots of ‘wait and watch’.
1. Strong demand in pockets, but uneven across industries
Finance hiring didn’t follow one straight trend. According to Karthik, industries such as shipping, renewable energy, and sustainability-linked businesses continued to invest in talent, driven by major capital inflows and growth across Southeast Asia and India.
At the same time, more traditional sectors like retail, consumer goods, and healthcare also showed pockets of strength, offering a steady flow of roles across FP&A, commercial finance, and business partnering.
2. Tech and AI hiring gained momentum
2025 was the year AI moved from hype to action.
Companies began building finance transformation teams, hiring FP&A analysts skilled in automation tools, and seeking leaders who could blend financial judgment with digital capability.
3. But geopolitical and economic uncertainty kept the market cautious
Finance is the first function affected when companies hesitate, and the last to fully accelerate.
As Karthik noted, geopolitical situations, trade tensions, and political instability in certain regions kept many employers cautious, delaying some hiring cycles and restructuring others.
4. A shift in hiring mindset, soft skills started to outweigh credentials
2025 marked a clear change: companies stopped hiring purely based on pedigree or technical background.
Instead, they began prioritising:
adaptability
entrepreneurial thinking
problem-solving
ability to embrace and use technology
Soft skills paired with technical knowledge are becoming the real differentiator.
Summary of 2025:
Growth pockets existed in energy, sustainability, and tech.
Traditional industries held steady.
But broader uncertainty kept the market cautious.
And companies shifted strongly toward hiring for mindset, not just CVs.
What Can We Expect From Finance Hiring in 2026?
2025 kept everyone on their toes, and 2026 looks like it’s waiting to see which global forces decide to play nice.
1. A better year, if growth industries lead from the front
According to Karthik, if industries like shipping, renewables, sustainability, and AI-driven tech continue their current trajectory, 2026 could turn into a much stronger hiring year for finance roles across Asia and the Middle East.
These sectors create demand for:
FP&A
project finance
ESG reporting
business partnering
commercial finance roles
2. But everything hinges on geopolitical stability
Trade wars, political shifts, and global conflicts are still the biggest risk to hiring recovery.
If these tensions ease, the job market could “open up very positively,” as Karthik described.
If not, companies may continue to move cautiously.
3. 2026 will reward agility over specialization
Finance professionals who can combine:
technical understanding
digital fluency
strategic thinking
entrepreneurial mindset
...will be in the strongest position.
Karthik stressed that adaptability, agility, and staying relevant will be the biggest success factors in 2026’s hiring landscape.
4. Still a grey area, but with strong upside potential
Karthik summed it up clearly:
2026 is not a guaranteed boom, it is a conditional opportunity.
If global uncertainties soften and high-growth industries keep expanding, we could see a strong surge in hiring across finance, HR, legal, and commercial functions.
If instability persists, companies will remain cautious.
The Outlook for 2026
A year with big potential, but contingent on geopolitics and industry momentum.
The professionals who stay adaptable, tech-enabled, and entrepreneurial will have the strongest runway in 2026.
Hot Jobs This Week
Explore new openings across the maritime and finance sectors:
View & Apply Now
Let’s Connect!
Want job alerts? Follow us on LinkedIn.