THE CHALLENGE:
Ireland’s financial services sector continues to grow rapidly, driven by digital transformation, regulatory innovation, and global competitiveness. Behind that growth, however, lies a pressing talent challenge. The Indecon IFS Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report (2024) forecast a critical sectoral skills gap of over 4,000 roles by 2027, a number that demands bold, collaborative thinking about where new talent will come from.
One answer was already hiding in plain sight. Thousands of experienced financial services professionals had stepped away from the workforce for career breaks. They retain deep expertise, transferable skills, and genuine motivation to return. Yet despite their potential, they faced significant barriers: acute confidence gaps, evolving technology expectations, and a pervasive uncertainty about “how the industry works now.”
IFS Skillnet, a national learning network promoted by Financial Services Ireland and funded by Skillnet Ireland through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, recognised this under-leveraged talent pool as both a strategic opportunity and a social responsibility. IFS Skillnet recognised the need to create a pathway for these professionals, ensuring their valuable expertise could be retained within Ireland’s talent ecosystem. The goal was to design a programme that would:
– Equip returners with the professional and interpersonal skills to re-enter financial services with confidence.
– Reconnect participants with Ireland’s dynamic financial services sector and potential employers.
– Support Ireland’s national growth strategy for sustainable employment and skills development in the financial services industry.
Aligned with its mission to proactively future-proof the sector’s skills base, IFS Skillnet conceived a structured, sector-wide returners programme, and, through a competitive open tender, appointed Adaptas as its design and delivery partner.
THE SOLUTION:
The Reactivate programme was built on a deliberate and highly effective division of strengths. IFS Skillnet provided the concept, core industry topics, employer partnerships, and deep ecosystem knowledge. Adaptas brought external perspective: neuropsychology-informed learning architecture, behaviour change methodology, and expert coaching capability. This clear delineation of roles eliminated duplication, closed experiential gaps, and enabled both organisations to focus on what each does best, creating a robust talent pipeline for the entire IFS sector.
Over the course of 18 sessions, delivered both in-person and virtually, Adaptas facilitators guided participants through a structured sequence of workshops, reflective exercises, coaching sessions, and employer engagement opportunities. Six core objectives anchored every design decision:
– Rebuild confidence and become back-to-work-ready.
– Articulate value and demonstrate transferable skills.
– Optimise professional profiles and actively network.
– Perform strongly in modern interviews.
– Operate confidently within a hybrid workplace.
– Understand current industry trends, including ESG, AI, and regulatory developments.
Participant Support: Coaches, Mentors, and Facilitators
At the heart of the programme was a deeply personalised matching process. Adaptas professionals carefully reviewed each participant’s career history, professional strengths, and future aspirations to match individuals with an experienced coach from the Adaptas network, as well as suitable mentors identified in consultation with IFS Skillnet. This personalised matching process ensured that each participant received the right mix of short-term, goal-focused coaching and longer-term, developmental mentoring.
Coaching focused on short-term performance and development objectives, with clear structure and task orientation. Coaches facilitated self-reflection and helped participants find their own solutions. Sessions were structured, scheduled, and client-led, enabling participants to address specific skill or confidence areas.
Mentoring provided a longer-term, relationship-based form of support. Mentors, who were all experienced professionals currently working within financial services, shared guidance, offered perspective on sector expectations, and helped participants understand the realities of returning to work in today’s environment. Mentoring conversations were more informal, relationship-oriented, and development driven.
A defining feature of Adaptas’s delivery was the calibre of the team delivering it. Lead Programme Facilitator Eibhlin Johnston combined over three decades of senior financial services leadership with 18 years of executive coaching experience. Programme Project and Client Lead Janet Kane brought extensive operational and regulatory expertise from direct IFS sector experience also. This depth was consistent across all five Adaptas coaches, ensuring every participant was supported by someone who had navigated the exact environments they were preparing to re-enter.
Learning Streams and Programme Content
The programme’s design wove together several interconnected learning streams, each serving a specific purpose in the returner journey. Career Readiness and Personal Effectiveness modules equipped participants with self-awareness tools, communication strategies, and confidence-building techniques tailored to the realities of re-entry. DiSC behavioural profiling, introduced in the second cohort, deepened participants’ understanding of their own working styles and interpersonal dynamics, while CV development and LinkedIn strategy ensured their professional profiles reflected their true capability. Content was organised across four integrated topic areas:
– Personal and Professional Skills — Building confidence, communication abilities, time management, and problem-solving capabilities.
– Career Development — Job search preparation, coaching support, interview practice, and transition planning.
– Financial Services Knowledge — Industry fundamentals and updates, regulatory requirements, risk management, and emerging trends including ESG and AI.
– Workplace Competencies — Hybrid working, client management, IT systems, and data analytics.
Networking and Presentation Skills sessions used immersive techniques and applied roleplay to help participants engage authentically, articulate their value, and make strong, lasting impressions in interviews and professional settings.
Employer Engagement and Industry Insights sessions brought the current IFS landscape to life, with guest speakers and subject-matter experts delivering focused talks with practical insights. Topics ranged from hiring expectations and emerging skills to career development and key areas such as hybrid working, data analytics, ESG, regulatory change, and AI. Participants also received practical training in navigating Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and leveraging tools such as AI to sharpen their professional messaging.
A standout innovation in the second cohort was a site visit to Accenture’s GenAI Innovation Studio, where participants experienced first-hand how artificial intelligence is transforming financial services operations, reinforcing the message that AI works best when capable, experienced people remain at the helm.
THE RESULTS:
The programme’s impact is most powerfully measured through employability. From the pilot cohort, 13 of 14 participants secured employment within one year, a 93% return-to-work rate in a highly competitive market. The second cohort, concluding in March 2026, has already replicated that momentum, with 10 of 19 participants placed before graduation and the remainder actively progressing through interview pipelines supported by ongoing coaching and mentoring.
Beyond placement rates, participants consistently reported a profound behavioural shift. Grounded in Adaptas’s neuropsychology-backed methodology, this confidence-to-action change replaced self-doubt with repeatable behaviours and renewed professional identity. Survey data reinforced this, with near-unanimous readiness gains, 100% recommendation rates across both cohorts, and strongly positive ratings for both coaching and mentoring relationships. Evaluation was systematic throughout, with weekly feedback loops, fortnightly partnership check-ins, and 360-degree end-of-programme reviews ensuring the learner experience could be adapted in real time and evidenced clearly at programme end.
At sector level, Reactivate has begun to shift something more fundamental: how the IFS industry perceives returner talent. By embedding experienced industry mentors and guest speakers throughout delivery, the programme created direct, credible exposure to this returner talent pool. We have observed how Reactivate has gradually created a shift in thinking within the IFS sector – from viewing career breaks as a liability to recognising returners as experience-rich, current and hire-ready. Mentoring relationships frequently extended beyond the programme itself, with mentors introducing participants to networks and opportunities that accelerated hiring well beyond what formal channels alone could achieve. In addressing the forecasted gap of over 4,000 roles, Reactivate offers the sector not just a pipeline of capable professionals, but a replicable model for how that pipeline can be sustained.
Headline Results
Pilot Cohort: 2024/25 (12 of 14 participants completed the survey)
– 13 of 14 participants (93%) secured employment within one year of the programme’s start date
– 100% of participants would recommend the programme to a friend or colleague
– 83% rated their readiness to return to the workforce as 5/5; the remaining 17% rated it 4/5
– 100% of participants rated their coaching relationship 5/5
– 83% rated their mentoring relationship as positive (4/5 or 5/5)
Cohort 2: 2025/26 (10 of 19 participants completed the survey)
– 10 of 19 participants (53%) have secured new positions since the programme commenced in October 2025
– 100% of survey respondents would recommend the programme
– 80% rated their readiness to return to the workforce as 4/5 or 5/5
– 90% rated their coaching relationship as positive (4/5 or 5/5)
– 70% rated their mentoring relationship as extremely positive (5/5)
– 60% rated their overall success in overcoming prior obstacles as 4/5 or 5/5
FEEDBACK:
“I highly recommend this programme to anyone looking to make a successful transition into the finance industry. The support I received from everyone involved—my coach, mentor, guest speakers and the programme team—was exceptional. Their guidance at every step helped me build a strong foundation in networking, CV building, interview preparation and gaining insights into the industry. The practical advice and encouragement I received boosted my confidence and allowed me to overcome self-doubt. Thanks to this programme, I feel more prepared and confident in navigating my career change. I’m excited to apply everything I’ve learned as I move forward.”
— Nataliia, Participant — Cohort 1 (2024/25)
“I can’t thank this programme enough. I thought this program would be beneficial and could help me in my return to the workforce, it completely surpassed my expectations. I learned a lot about FS and through the help of the course and the provided support I managed to get a job. Great course and well run.”
— James, Participant — Cohort 1 (2024/25)
“I would highly recommend this programme to anyone thinking about returning to work after a career break, for whatever reason. It’s an incredibly supportive and empowering experience that helps rebuild confidence while providing practical tools for navigating today’s job market. The guidance on shaping your career break narrative, positioning your experience, and updating your CV was invaluable. I finished the programme feeling far more confident, better prepared, and genuinely excited about the next step in my career.”
— Louise, Participant — Cohort 2 (2025/26)
“This programme was an extremely valuable experience. It helped me rebuild confidence, refresh my professional skills, and better understand the current job market. The support was outstanding, and the programme created a very encouraging and supportive environment for returning to work. I would highly recommend it to anyone considering re-entering the workforce.”
— Barbara, Participant — Cohort 2 (2025/26)