Addressing the 2025 contingent workforce challenge: The ripple effect of the FCA’s motor finance review
The UK’s financial services sector is facing a significant challenge over the next 12-18 months, one that will not only impact businesses directly involved in motor finance but also have far-reaching consequences for the broader contingent workforce landscape. With the FCA’s crackdown on Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCA), the demand for large volumes of contingent workers from across different sectors, or in similar fields, but with transferable skills is set to soar. To overcome the knock-on effect, businesses must be ready to adapt to these shifts efficiently, managing demand while securing high-quality talent to prevent operational disruptions.
The FCA’s motor finance complaints
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a major review into historical motor finance agreements, specifically focusing on the use of Discretionary Commission Arrangements. These agreements allowed brokers to adjust interest rates on motor finance products, often resulting in higher commission earnings at the expense of consumers. The FCA is investigating whether customers have been unfairly charged and is assessing the potential for widespread remediation.
The potential financial and operational impact of this review is huge. Analysts have put forward a range of figures on compensation costs for the motor finance industry, with the highest reaching £16bn *. Companies will be faced with processing an unprecedented volume of complaints, reviewing historical agreements, and ensuring they comply with FCA guidelines. The demand for skilled professionals capable of handling these tasks efficiently has never been greater. The challenges don’t end there – competition to attract employees will be fierce, while talent pools will be stretched to cover the unprecedented demand.
The ripple-effect on the contingent workforce market
The surge in complaints and increased regulatory scrutiny is set to create a major talent squeeze, particularly in industries that rely on contingent workers. As financial services organisations ramp up hiring to handle complaints and compliance demands, a significant portion of contingent workers may be drawn towards these high-demand, often higher-paying, short-term projects.
This shift will have widespread consequences. Businesses that depend on contingent workers, whether or not they are directly linked to regulatory compliance, could face mounting challenges in securing the talent they need. Increased competition for skilled professionals may drive up wages, disrupt workforce planning, and create talent shortages across multiple sectors.
The importance of speed, scale, and quality in resourcing
With demand exceeding supply, the ability to attract and deploy talent quickly will be a critical differentiator. Businesses that rely on contingent workers will need resourcing partners who can move at pace while maintaining high standards of quality and compliance.
At Rockford, we understand these challenges and are uniquely positioned to provide a competitive edge. Our ability to rapidly supply large volumes of skilled workers ensures that organisations can rapidly scale-up. We also take a different approach to contingent workforce management – one that prioritises fairness, transparency, and quality while ensuring 100% compliance. These are qualities that help us to attract top-talent and a happier, more committed workforce.
Why Rockford’s PEPSO model can give you the edge
Rockford’s PEPSO (Professional Employment & Payroll Services Organisation) model removes the need for umbrella companies that often don’t have employees’ best interests at heart. Our higher-standard model is designed to attract top-tier talent by offering fairer and more transparent take-home pay, benefits in-line with permanent employees, full compliance and higher professional standards. In essense, a worker-centric model that will attract quality talent for your roles.
What does this mean for you and your business?
- Attracting the best talent: Skilled professionals are more likely to choose roles that offer transparent pay structures, more favourable benefits and demonstrate regulatory compliance. On average, we receive 15% more candidate applications due to our full-time equivalent salary offering.
- Faster resourcing: Our 30+ years of experience in Big 4 consultancy and a well-established network allows us to place the right people quickly, minimising downtime and allowing your business to react to demand. We offer industry-leading timelines and conversion rates. In fact, 95% of our candidates are vetted within 12 days, enabling rapid response to urgent hiring needs and reducing vetting drop-out by up to 85%.
- Higher retention rates: Because our employees feel valued and treated fairly, they are happier and more committed, reducing the disruption caused by high turnover.
The challenges of scaling up in 2025
With a significant number of financial services organisations gearing up to address the DCA challenge, it is inevitable that they will find themselves in a hiring race. The complexities of managing this influx of complaints require businesses to act quickly while ensuring compliance with stringent FCA regulations.
One of the biggest challenges will be the availability of skilled professionals. As demand rises, competition for experienced complaint handlers and compliance specialists will intensify, leading to potential talent shortages. This can drive up costs, forcing businesses to reconsider their workforce strategies to remain competitive.
Another issue businesses will face is balancing workforce flexibility with stability. Many will need to scale operations up or down depending on complaint volumes, requiring a workforce solution that can respond to these fluctuations seamlessly. Traditional hiring methods may struggle to keep up with these demands, leaving businesses at risk of operational bottlenecks.
Additionally, the regulatory landscape remains fluid, meaning businesses must stay ahead of any new FCA requirements that emerge during the review process. Having access to a workforce that can quickly adapt to changing compliance expectations will be crucial.
Rockford’s PEPSO model helps businesses overcome these challenges by ensuring:
Access to quality talent: Our extensive talent pool and industry knowledge ensures employees are carefully screened and ready to step into roles, quickly and without delays.
Agile workforce scaling: We provide flexible and streamlined resourcing and payroll solutions that allow firms to scale their teams in response to demand. Offering a streamlined service and cost savings.
Industry-specific expertise: Candidates are thoroughly vetted and matched to roles based on their expertise. We aim for precision and pride ourselves in working in partnership with our clients to truly understand their resourcing needs.
How to prepare for the surge in workforce demand
Given the expected shortfall in complaint handlers, businesses should consider proactive strategies to secure talent ahead of demand spikes. Key steps should include:
Partnering with a resourcing expert for contingent workers – Engaging with a streamlined resourcing and payroll partner like Rockford to ensure immediate access to skilled professionals while mitigating payroll compliance risks through a straight-forward combined solution.
Developing a robust onboarding process – Organisations must create efficient onboarding systems that accelerate the learning curve for new hires.
Offering competitive incentives – Given the demand for compliance professionals, offering attractive work conditions and fair compensation will be key to retention.
Ensuring regulatory readiness – Companies must be prepared to adapt quickly to any additional FCA guidelines that may emerge during the review process.
Why Rockford is the right partner for 2025 and beyond
Rockford’s PEPSO model uniquely positions us to deliver high volumes of skilled professionals while upholding exceptional standards of quality and compliance. We have the capacity to manage large programmes and oversee multiple recruitment campaigns for multiple clients. Unlike traditional recruitment models, we go beyond simply filling vacancies – we design tailored resourcing and payroll solutions that help businesses thrive in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment while driving significant cost efficiencies.
With extensive experience in financial services, Rockford understands the unique regulatory challenges and talent demands for this sector. Our industry knowledge allows us to anticipate trends and proactively support businesses in navigating complex regulations so you can gain a competitive edge.
Beyond financial services, Rockford delivers talent across a wide range of sectors, including:
– Pharmaceutical – Meeting the sector’s stringent regulatory and compliance needs
– Public sector – Supporting government and public services with expert professionals
– Legal – Supplying skilled talent in regulatory law, compliance, and governance
– Accountancy & audit – Providing finance experts to drive business integrity and compliance
– Transport – Enhancing workforce capabilities in logistics and infrastructure
– FMCG – Ensuring businesses have agile, high-quality talent to stay competitive
Through our transparent pay structures, fair treatment of workers, and rapid, large-scale resourcing capabilities, we attract top talent and ensure businesses remain competitive. With the motor finance complaints surge set to put a strain on the contingent workforce talent pool, securing the right workforce partner is more important than ever.
Final thoughts
The FCA’s crackdown on DCA will reshape the financial services sector, creating a dramatic shift in workforce demands. Organisations that fail to secure skilled professionals quickly risk falling behind, facing operational bottlenecks, and struggling with regulatory compliance.
Rockford is ready and able to help businesses navigate these challenges with speed, scale, and transparency. Our PEPSO model ensures that organisations not only meet their workforce needs but also attract and retain the best talent in the industry.
If your organisation is preparing for the challenges ahead, now is the time to secure a competitive advantage. Rockford’s unique approach to contingent workforce solutions ensures you will have access to the best talent quickly, fairly, and transparently.
Get in touch with the Rockford team today to discuss how we can support your hiring needs and help you navigate the workforce challenges of 2025 and beyond: [email protected]
* Source – https://www.cityam.com/auto-finance-industry-could-face-16bn-in-compensation-payouts-from-fca-probe/
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