Those jobseekers looking for work in Australia's financial sector have been advised to enhance their skills to improve their chances of gaining employment in the current financial downturn.

This is the recommendation of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology professor John Toohey, who said the country, like the US, is likely to see an increase in the number of people entering into further business study at postgraduate level.

Business ethics should be a major focus of those wishing to further their knowledge base in the financial industry, he added, as the economic crisis signifies that this area has not been fully focused on.

Mr Toohey said financial professionals need to be "motivated by ethics as well as profit", reported Money Management.

"This next generation of business leaders will have to be prepared to be innovative and radical, while holding firm to the highest standards of ethics and corporate responsibility," he continued.

Last month, the Bush administration voted to assist struggling financial institutions in the country with a bailout package after global bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection.