Fintech employees lament cost-cutting, bigger duties and layoffs

19 December 2024

2 minute read

The state of fintech hiring has deteriorated in 2024, and it seems like the state of fintech jobs have as well.

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Among the 1,700 responses for our bonus expectation report releasing next week, there were a number of respondents in fintech. They each paint a dour picture of fintech today, where everything is about cutting costs.

Multiple respondents cited "cost reduction" as a reason to be fearful over job security. One of them, an associate in Hong Kong, said their fintech had instituted a hiring and travel freeze. He isn't looking for a new job, however, as it's a "risky move" in the current market, and "can't complain" with the fact that he works just 1 day in the office per week.

A VP at a fintech with ~40 employees also cited cost reductions, saying that "employees are forced to do more than their job." Nadia Edwards-Dashti of fintech recruitment firm Harrington Starr said recently that this is a big trend in fintech, but it comes with no pay-rise or promotion. While the VP says that there's a sense of achievement about the extra work, he says he wants "to give more time to my family and social life."

A director at a fintech in California detailed their experience being laid off, another frequent disappointing trend for fintechs in 2024. He said 90 employees were laid off, including him, and his team was reduced from 27 employees to just seven. "The writing was on the wall," the Director told us. "It was the fourth round in three years... all about profitable growth."

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