Wall St jobs are hot again as tech and crypto lay off employees

After years of struggling to attract computer engineers who would rather work for big tech groups or crypto startups, Wall Street firms say they are regaining lost ground in the talent war as layoffs and hiring freezes spread across Silicon Valley.

With exchanges, banks and market makers continuing to expand through the latest market downturn, executives say their relative stability has made them more attractive destinations.

“We’ve definitely seen an influx of candidates coming from large tech, crypto and top-tier startups,” said Josh Woods, head of systematic trading technology at Citadel Securities, where applications for tech roles have increased by more than 50 percent quarter-on-quarter .

“Graduates view the job market more realistically now, similar to how investors in downturns really view value and fundamentals.”

Falling stock and cryptocurrency prices, rising interest rates and fears of an impending recession have led to an abrupt reversal in fortunes since the start of the year for the once booming technology sector. More than 75,000 layoffs have been announced so far in 2022, according to the tracking site Layoffs.fyi, and even companies like Apple and Alphabet have halted or slowed hiring.

By contrast, market volatility has driven trading volume at companies such as Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, and Cboe Global Markets, which has increased the size of its technology teams by more than a quarter this year.

ICE said its “stability through many recessions resonates with [candidates]. For those who have had more experience with startups and crypto companies, they appreciate the ‘all-weather’ nature of our business.”

As traditional financial firms have become increasingly dependent on technology, intense competition for skilled employees has driven up costs. A top executive at a major bank said the challenge became particularly acute due to the spread of remote work during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was easy for engineers working from home to switch jobs – they just needed to log on to a different computer,” he said. “Now that’s changing with Apple and Facebook slowing hiring.”

Nasdaq said in January that “increased competition for talent” was expected to be a key driver of rising costs this year, but when the company reported second-quarter earnings in late July, CEO Adena Friedman told analysts that the company had “started to see more people who really want to come”, including many so-called boomerang employees who had left before starting again.

One industry executive said wages for new recruits were not yet in decline, but said recent rapid increases were slowing.

Still, several executives emphasized that the market remained competitive, especially for engineers with the most sought-after skills. Chris Isaacson, CEO of Cboe, said “the diversity and durability of our businesses . . . allows us to invest in the business at a time when others have to contract”.

But he added that “the best talent always has opportunities. We need to remain competitive . . . in the way we reward people and seek to retain them.”

Additional reporting by Joshua Franklin in New York