The decline of fin-tech will reduce financial sector jobs

Jobs in financial activities in Miami-Dade County are growing more slowly than last year, while jobs at fin-tech companies are shrinking due to the volatility of the financial sector.

Finance jobs in South Florida grew 3.3 percent from March 2022 to March 2023, from 206,100 workers to 213,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall area, the growth rate is 3%, from 88,000 to 90,600.

Financial activities added 4,900 jobs to the Miami area in January, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

As of April, there were 91,400 jobs in financial activities in Miami-Dade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Florida had an all-time high of 680,000 people working in finance that month.

Manuel Lasaga, president of StratInfo, a Coral Gables-based business economics and financial consulting firm, said lending activity in the financial sector is growing in Miami-Dade. “[Banks] Seeing the economy grow at a healthy pace last year, they took the opportunity to continue their lending activities.

For this year, he said, “I will probably continue to see slower growth, the economy is still growing, but not as much as it did last year.” We continue to see modest growth in banking [industry]He said.

Insurance is another area that has seen significant growth in the last couple of years, he added, “mostly in the Tampa area. Reflects the journey north to Florida.

Non-deposit banks or fin-tech companies, however, are showing a slowdown in growth, he said. “They’re growing faster than years ago, they’re accelerating. They became vulnerable to the economic slowdown. That area has been shrinking in jobs, and I think it’s going to continue to shrink because the type of financing they’re doing is very risky.

The fin-tech growth rate in Miami is reaching negative 3 to 4 percent, he said.

Nationally, tech companies have laid off 131,000 workers this year, according to Crunchbase. However, fin-tech revenue, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group and QED Investors, is projected to grow from $245 billion to $1.5 trillion worldwide by 2030.

As of May, there are about 450 fin-tech startups in Miami, according to Tracxn Technologies. Companies expanding into Little Havana, such as Swedish mobile banking app Majority; Or New York startup Bank Novo and consumer-focused challenger bank Fortu, which is moving to Miami, have grown over the years.

“[Fin-techs] It spread so quickly because consumers continued to spend more, especially after the tough months, because of the massive amount of money the federal government pumped into the economy for two years after the pandemic. Epidemic. That consumer spending created an opportunity for fin-techs to expand their growth.

Traditional banks have been focusing more on commercial real estate lending: “It’s one area where they can influence the pace of growth. They are pushing loans to improve their margins.”

Finding new lending locations is a priority, Mr. Lasaga said. Wealth management and IT skills remain the top specialties sought by financial employers.

In addition, banks are gradually reducing their office footprint, which could affect employment in the financial sector, he said. “In technology [there will be] Fewer branches, fewer people.

Finally, bank consolidation means that some institutions will be closed, but it will reduce the demand for jobs in the financial sector, even if banks are made to record higher profits and have more market share.