Fintech is a growing sector. New startups and big banks are all embracing technology to enhance greatly their services. Its impact can be felt worldwide but in some countries, it is even bigger. In fact, in the United Kingdom, Fintech is gaining weight not only as an innovation driver in the financial industry but as a job booster. It is such the meteoric rise of Fintech in the UK, that businesses are now immersed in what has been called as a “war for talent.”
That is, at least, what a new report, The UK Fintech Revolution: 2019 Salary Survey, from global recruiter Robert Walters and market analysis experts Vacancy Soft have found. The sector generated 61% more vacancies over the past year, centred on the high demand areas of IT, Marketing and Sales. As a result, salary increases up to and exceeding 25% have been witnessed across the sector as businesses contend in the ‘war for talent’.
Danika Jarmer, Director – Strategic Accounts at Robert Walters said: “The rise of fintech comes at a time where talent shortages are felt across major professional disciplines, and so VC funding is acting as somewhat of a ‘game changer’ when it comes to attractive job offers. As an increasing number of fintechs gain backing, capital is becoming less of a constraint and so firms can afford to offer inflated salaries in order to secure the best talent.”
While IT vacancies absorbed half of the fintech hiring market in 2017, this figure has dropped by 7% in 2018 as business growth and preparation for Brexit calls for skills in other areas.
Ahsan Iqbal, Director – Technology at Robert Walters, precisely pointed that out:“The level of hiring activity is largely driven by the hype of international expansion, fuelling job creation and in turn, significant salary jumps. With 42% of roles in fintech dedicated to IT, we’re seeing on average 8% year-on-year salary growth for IT. Outside of IT, the rapid growth of fintech businesses has stimulated demand for skills in other areas – namely Compliance (85% YOY growth), Marketing (63% YOY growth), Sales (23% YOY growth) and Development & Engineering (16% YOY growth).”
As London continues to be the number one city in Europe attracting venture capital funding for its fintech’s – 39% versus Berlin (21%), Paris (18%), Stockholm (5%), Barcelona (4%), Amsterdam (4%), Zurich (3%), Copenhagen (2%) and Dublin (2%) – this seems to be having an upward push on salaries.
The report – The UK Fintech Revolution: 2019 Salary Survey – notes a salary leap of 20% between roles advertised for SME fintechs with no funding versus roles advertised for VC backed enterprises.
James Murray, Director – Financial Services at Robert Walters noted about the salary leap: “It is no surprise to see compliance as the largest growth area this year. The spotlight on fintech’s has meant that they are now having to address concerns from regulatory bodies and prove that they are just as capable of being compliant as the big banks. With relatively unestablished compliance departments, we can expect to see rapid hiring in this area for the rest of this year.
“Over the next 12 months, we can expect to see the greatest salary movement in the high-demand skills areas, where skills shortages are experienced the most acutely. If fintech businesses are to effectively compete against financial services giants with significantly more capital, they will need to ensure their employment packages are premium, factoring in progression, work-life balance and a positive business culture, on top of a healthy salary.
“One particular advantage for fintech’s is their capacity to offer equity to employees, which big banks can not directly compete with.”
Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.
