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We investigate, using questionnaires, the use of spreadsheet software in the financial sector workplace by recent graduates and the benefits of spreadsheets in the teaching and learning of actuarial and financial mathematics at postgraduate level. This study investigates the nexus between learning and work in order to modify the university curriculum. We aim to equip graduates with skills applicable in the workplace and to improve the learning of actuarial and financial theory.The results indicate that the use of spreadsheets in the workplace is ubiquitous and that graduates find them relatively easy to learn, easy to use and very useful for their work. Spreadsheet skills are considered very valuable. Little or no formal training had been provided during their university studies and graduates mostly learned on the job. The surveys of postgraduate students and of employers support the conclusions reached from the graduates' survey. There is considerable justification for university courses to include training in the use of spreadsheets.

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There is currently a shortage of graduates with the necessary skills for jobs in data analytics and “Big Data”. Recently many new university degrees have been created to address the skills gap, but they are mostly computer science based with little coverage of statistics. In this chapter, the perceptions of graduates and academics about the types of expertise and the types of software skills required for this field are documented based on two online surveys in Australia and New Zealand. The results showed that Statistical Analysis and Statistical Software Skills were the most necessary type of expertise required. Graduates in industry identified SQL as the most necessary software skill while academics teaching in relevant disciplines identified R programming as the most necessary software skill for Big Data analysis. The authors recommend multidisciplinary degrees where the appropriate combination of skills in statistics and computing can be provided for future graduates.