Despite the thousands of tech layoffs that have cast a dour outlook on recruitment in the industry, UK fintech company Revolut is looking to boost its team by almost 1,700 staff.
January 2023 has seen tech firms in the UK and beyond announce severe cuts to staff, with international giants like Meta, Amazon, and Google dominating headlines with major cutbacks.
In the UK, fintech startup Paddle and EV company Arrival have been among the high-profile British tech firms to scale back this year.
However, London-based fintech Revolut is bucking the trend caused by a bleak economic outlook. Yesterday it told the Evening Standard that it plans to onboard 1,700 new workers and took aim at other tech companies for making cutbacks.
“People often view layoffs as the fault of the individual but it’s clear at the moment that it’s the fault of businesses over-hiring,” Chris Yankson, head of recruitment at Revolut said.
“You have some tech companies who thought the revenue growth they saw during the pandemic was going to be constant but given current economic conditions they’ve discovered they’re a little overstretched.”
Yankson added: “There has been a more cautious approach by British tech firms, who have taken a more measured strategy for recruiting new people and for whom increasing headcount isn’t seen as the only lever towards achieving growth.”
Despite this reserved perspective, Revolut does not seem concerned with overstaffing yet as it embarks on its ambitious hiring target.
The fintech unicorn has been expanding its financial services as it looks to acquire a UK banking license. While Revolut already operates as a bank in 10 European markets — including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, and Germany — the company is eager to secure regulatory approval in its home market.
Speaking to the Sunday Times in September 2022, Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky said the process is “going very well” and is “almost there”.
Revolut is currently behind in publishing its company accounts.