RBC Capital Markets is looking beyond the firm’s traditional talent pools for potential hires as the competition for highly skilled workers heats up.

The trading and investment-banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada is considering people currently serving as analysts or even further afield, such as executives working in corporate jobs, said Derek Neldner, the division’s chief executive officer.

“There’s a very competitive market for talent right now, so to get the best people we have to look quite broadly and be open-minded,” Neldner said in an interview Tuesday after the first day of Royal Bank’s financial institutions conference.

The bank is looking to hire for its advisory and origination businesses, including roles in debt capital markets, securitization and corporate equity derivatives, mainly serving corporate clients, Neldner said. A lot of that hiring will be at senior levels, but RBC is looking to fill junior- and mid-level positions as well, he said. The firm also is seeking people with skills in technology, data and artificial intelligence, particularly for its markets businesses, he said.

RBC Capital Markets paused hiring in early 2020 as the shift to remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic made recruiting more difficult. It resumed late last year, and has since hired seven managing directors in investment banking since September, Neldner said. Among the hires was Sarah Hindlian, a senior research analyst covering the software industry at Macquarie Capital, as a managing director in its global technology group.