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How are banking jobs evolving, and how can professionals prepare? The ISFB Observatory is today opening its banking occupations framework to the public. It outlines the 37 key banking functions in French-speaking Switzerland, the skills they require and the training paths that lead to them.
Banking roles are changing, and job titles vary from one institution to another. The purpose of the framework is to describe the underlying functions based on the activities performed and the skills mobilised. It provides employees, employers, trainers and career advisers with a common reference point for:
– Recruiting the right profiles
– Identifying skills that need strengthening
– Understanding banking roles and the routes into them
– Facilitating professional mobility by identifying skill transfers
Available free of charge online, the framework details 37 generic functions across five job families: Private Banking & Asset Management, Retail & Corporate banking, Law, Risk & Compliance, Support & Cross-functional roles, and Management & Human Resources.
“The same role does not always have the same name from one bank to another, and that is often where misunderstandings arise in a recruitment process or a mobility project. We clearly describe the content of each function and what it requires, so that everyone works from the same reference points. This framework also provides the ISFB Observatory with a basis for tracking the evolution of banking roles,” says Mathias Baitan, CEO of ISFB.
A foundation for the Observatory’s work
Created in November 2025, the ISFB Observatory presented its first findings in August 2026: 99% of the 230 banking employees from French-speaking Switzerland surveyed expect their role to change by 2030-2035, and 94% of them believe they will need to strengthen their skills. The framework provides the benchmark that will make it possible to track these changes over time, function by function.
This first public version was developed by the ISFB Observatory working groups, which bring together professionals currently employed by the institutions. It is set to evolve in stages, according to proposals from member institutions. Its data will be progressively integrated into ISFB’s skills assessment tool.
The framework is accessible here
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About the ISFB Observatory for Banking and Financial Skills
Created in November 2025 within ISFB, a non-profit professional association founded in 1987, the Observatory is funded by eight banks in the region (BCGE, Bordier, EFG Bank, Indosuez Wealth Management in Switzerland, Lombard Odier, Mirabaud, Pictet, UBP) and is backed by a research partnership with the University of Geneva. It takes no position on industry direction or institutional choices: its work focuses on roles, skills, training needs and career transitions. Notebook No. 1 will be available to the public during September on www.isfb.ch/observatoire.
About ISFB
ISFB is the skills and career centre for banks and financial institutions in French-speaking Switzerland. The Institute offers specialised services for the banking and finance sector in continuing education, as well as career management services (assessment, coaching, career guidance, outplacement, recruitment). Founded in 1987 as a non-profit professional association, ISFB today brings together more than fifty banking and financial institutions and partners across French-speaking Switzerland. ISFB also runs the Observatory of Banking and Financial Skills, a monitoring and forward-looking tool for skills development in the French-speaking financial centre.
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