Banks are steadily losing their workforce to fintech startups, according to Bloomberg. Top tech positions: engineers, data scientists, and more, who previously held shop on Wall Street, are ditching the money circus for higher pay and increased flexibility at startups.
From January 2020 to April 2022, Goldman Sachs alone saw 37 employees depart to Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency conglomerate out of the U.S. 21 more left Sachs for Brex Inc., a credit card startup, and 18 left for SoFi Technologies, Inc.
Why banks are steadily losing their workforce to fintech startups:
Christian Faes, the co-Founder of LendInvest, describes a “war for talent.” He says, “We’re hiring people out of Facebook and Amazon, really high-tech engineers, and they don’t naturally gravitate toward banks with coding systems from the 1980s.”
Just take a look at Coinbase, for example. They have acquired 197 professionals from Amazon, 97 from Alphabet, Inc. (Google’s parent company), 73 from Microsoft, and 72 from Meta Platforms Inc.
Mark Ashton-Rigby, Chief Operating Officer at Barclays, says, “The number of people working in technology roles at Barclays has grown by more than 10% in the past two years, a testament to the compelling proposition we offer.”
It’s also important to remember that the technology hiring industry is often cyclical. Some experts argue we are getting closer to when professionals will opt for stability over novelty. It’s no longer an option to skimp on technology resources, so companies that recognize this are better suited for the competition.
We are also in an age of growing distrust amongst the nation’s top earners for technology companies after witnessing the falls of tech giants like Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos or Adam Neumann of WeWork.
Ashton-Rigby says, “The number of people working in technology roles at Barclays has grown by more than 10% in the past two years, a testament to the compelling proposition we offer.”
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Kristen Burgess is the Marketing Specialist at Alliance of Professionals & Consultants, Inc. She has five years’ experience in curating content for digital platforms, social media contributions, and supporting marketing campaigns and strategies. Before joining the APC wolfpack, she worked in digital marketing for software as a service, giving her keen insight into the types of professionals APC hires today. In addition, she likes to stay up-to-date on the most relevant trends within the technology industry through thought-provoking podcasts and newsletters while paying attention to industry leaders’ trends. In her spare time, she serves on the Management Team and helps craft communications for the Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties.
