Robert Walters’ Global Fintech Talent Report has found that the global FinTech sector has seen an exceptional +182 per cent increase in tech job growth for the first quarter of 2022. The top eight FinTech ‘mega-hubs’ have accounted for over 90 per cent of all new FinTech jobs advertised around the globe.
However according to recruiter Robert Walters, the sector will face major hurdles this year as an acute tech talent shortage around the globe threatens to halt the FinTech growth machine.
“The forecast for organisations working in the global FinTech market is a very positive one, however, their growth will be dependent on their ability to recruit and retain the right tech talent,” says Toby Fowlston, CEO of Robert Walters. “The most advanced economies have long established that they cannot be ‘good at everything’ and instead have focussed their efforts in becoming specialists in a few core areas.
“For example – you have Germany for engineering, China for manufacturing, and the UK for banking. But no country quite has a dominance over technology and given the remote and mobile nature of the tech industry it seems that all major economies are competing for a slice of the FinTech pie.
“Whilst the outcome of competition means heightened innovation and consumer choice, from a talent perspective this creates a challenge and as the adoption of FinTech products continues to grow at an exceptional rate the concern is whether there is enough of the right tech talent to keep up with the growth.”
The Robert Walters’ Global Fintech Talent Report considers various factors across geographies impacting talent attraction including skills in demand, retention levels, gender diversity, salary and VC investment.
Toby adds: “Exit strategies for UK FinTech’s are front of mind and so it is not uncommon for professionals to move on to another role within 1.5 years once they have seen through one major growth cycle or investment round.”
The USA has seen the biggest jump in new tech jobs within FinTech – illustrating a +223 per cent increase across the board, with the majority of this growth in New York (+246 per cent) and San Francisco (+200 per cent). Second in the running for job growth is Japan (+214 per cent) – where blockchain technology represents almost a third of all FinTech companies in the country as cryptocurrencies transactions continue to grow (+51 per cent).
Toby comments: “Technology professionals is one of the most mobile talent communities in the world, and they naturally draw towards hubs or hives of activity where their skillset will continue to be in-demand and paid well.
“Now that travel and entry restrictions around the globe are fast disappearing it won’t be surprising to see a significant migration of talent toward the eight FinTech hubs.”
