$100 billion. Greater than the GDP of most countries, that’s how much has been invested in FinTech, or financial technology, since 2010. Even more eye-opening is that it’s an amount growing at 47% annually. Rising FinTech usage has certainly disrupted the financial services industry, but regardless of sector, it’s disrupting your tech hiring too.
What FinTech Means for Financial Services
The uses of financial technology are varied and are only limited by the imagination and creativity of talent. Breakthroughs like blockchain have revolutionized the security of transactions, while nearly every bank under the sun is creating an app to make life easier for customers. The big players are throwing their full weight behind FinTech initiatives, with giant Citi spending $8 billion on technology last year alone. At the same time, startups like SoFi are quickly becoming alternatives to big banks by harnessing machine learning and analytics to improve the customer experience.
Outside of traditional banking, the rise of peer-to-peer financial apps is valued at $40 billion today and expected to hit $335 billion by 2022. Venmo is the best known of these apps, but competitors are growing rapidly, with Twitter’s financial app Square gaining huge market share in the space. Of course, these FinTech apps cannot function unless they are designed appropriately, tailored specifically to the financial services market, and created securely.
A Small Tech Talent Pool Gets Smaller
As financial behemoths and startups seek innovation through technology, they have no choice but to seek technologists to carry out their vision. Since tech unemployment levels are already at record lows, this new demand for tech skills shrinks the talent pool further. For example, assume that there are 2,000 qualified Mobile Developers in a city. 1,975 of them will be employed, with the remaining 25 fielding offers from software companies, grocery chains, energy corporations, automobile manufacturers, and countless others. Add big banks, local credit unions, and FinTech startups to the mix, and it’s clear why hiring managers seeking tech talent have their backs against a wall.
Competition Gets fierce
To those outside of the industry, financial institutions seem like they are made of money, coming in and throwing their weight around to cherry pick the best technologists from the bunch. However, it’s not that easy, not even for a Fortune 500 bank. When an organization is driving hard toward a new initiative, like the adoption of blockchain or a new customer banking interface, they may be willing to invest more in talent, but there are still hiring budgets to adhere to.
These organizations are often the fiercest competition for tech talent. Launching a new product or chasing innovation introduces an element of risk, and aggressively going after top technologists can improve the odds. So, not only are hiring managers from different industries going after the same Developer or Security Architect, but there are also stronger offers being made that, at a minimum, are meeting the market rate salaries in your local region.
How Rising Fintech Usage Impacts Your Tech Hiring
There’s no question rising FinTech usage is a boon for financial companies, but only if they can find the talent. It’s the tremendous innovation happening right now that spurred PayPal CEO Dan Schulman to predict there would be more change in the financial services industry in the next five years than there has been in the last thirty. For all hiring managers seeking technologists, whether you’re investing in FinTech or in another initiative, take note; the competition for talent isn’t going away any time soon.
Need a hand landing the right technologist for your open role? Learn more about what BridgeView IT can do for you.
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