Attracting and retaining top talent to drive fintech innovation in the Bay State

Thanks to its world-renowned academic institutions and abundant opportunities for students and young professionals, Massachusetts is the ideal place to launch and sustain the careers of the next generation of fintech leaders. 

We heard from several leaders at some of the Bay State’s most prestigious academic institutions, financial firms and startups about the importance of attracting and retaining talent—and the role this has played in growing the state’s fintech workforce from 197,000 to 231,000 in just three years (according to our 2023 Progress Assessment, authored by KPMG and commissioned by MassTech).

Here are some of the crucial aspects of what makes Massachusetts the place to be for nurturing the fintech leaders of tomorrow:

A winning combination

In order to set up the next generation of fintech for success, an ecosystem of the premier leaders and organizations across many different sectors is crucial. Luckily, Massachusetts is made up of just that. 

Nikolas Casagrande, Vice President, Digital Innovation & Strategy at Citizens Bank, says that not only is Massachusetts a world leader in financial services—it’s also home to an incredibly strong tech sector and an impressive array of higher education institutions.

“The combination of finance, tech, and higher education generates a knowledgeable workforce that fintechs can readily tap into,” he explains. “This, combined with the state’s high number of venture firms, means that Massachusetts offers fintechs both the capital and the talent needed for growth.”

Creating future leaders

Many of the fintech leaders of tomorrow are cultivated in the Bay State, and in large part due to the presence of some of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.  

Jean Donnelly, the Chief Operating Officer at Sandbox Banking, says, “Institutions such as MIT, WPI, Harvard, and Boston University are at the forefront of fintech research. These universities provide a steady stream of talent and facilitate partnerships between academia and industry. Programs and labs dedicated to financial technology research drive innovation in the sector. This also helps to create an amazing talent pool and attracts a highly skilled workforce.”

Rob Sarnie, Professor of Practice of Fintech at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), calls Mass Fintech Hub “an outstanding organization” because it puts the whole fintech ecosystem at his students’ fingertips.

Noting that our members are from financial institutions, banks, venture capital, angel investing, startups, incubators, and government, he says, “Many have stepped into our WPI classrooms, projects, research papers, and clubs by guest speaking, sponsoring in-course case studies, interdisciplinary real-world experimental learning for capstone projects, networking, coaching and mentoring our students and professors on what is really going on today in fintech.”

This is a big deal, he says, “because fintech is growing, advancing, and adapting so rapidly and there is no textbook that can keep up with our current fintech world.”

With fintech becoming ubiquitous across industries, WPI’s project based learning, he says, “coupled with the partnership with MFTH, allows us to create the future leaders of tomorrow.”

A place for talent to grow

Students and young professionals need programming to help shape them into leaders, particularly in fintech and financial services, and there’s no doubt that our state and initiative are addressing that need. 

Anis Baig, Head of Talent Equity, Attraction, and Insights at MassMutual, says that Mass Fintech Hub’s career fairs, bootcamps and mentoring programs are helping  members of the community connect with talent and provide valuable insights.

“At MassMutual, we’re proud to be one of the founding partners of Mass Fintech Hub, and after three years we’ve already seen incredible strides in this space—strides that make Massachusetts an incredibly attractive place for talent to grow,” says Baig.

Laura Haas, Dean of the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst echoes this, when she describes our Fintech Bootcamps as “inspirational for students, and a great way for employers to get exposure to talented, diverse students – and vice versa!” 

Baig adds that opportunities for meaningful student-business engagement “run the gamut from open roles to giving students the tools to start their own business by introducing them to startup accelerator programs like MassChallenge and the Fintech Sandbox, which runs a Data Access Residency program.” He also notes that industry events such as Boston Fintech Week “have strengthened the interconnectivity of our community, improving networking and peer to peer partnerships.”

Powerful partnerships

Another of the many important aspects of an ecosystem that attracts and retains top talent is having strong public-private partnerships, which the Bay States prides itself on. 

Donnelly, of Sandbox Banking, gives a shout out to public-private partnerships that “have led to the creation of innovation hubs and clusters, such as the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which support fintech innovation and provide funding opportunities.”  

Robert Clare, Founder & CEO of Fispoke, echoes this, citing not only public-private partnerships as a means of spurring growth, but also state grants such as the one disbursed in 2023 to Western New England University for the creation of a new Fintech Incubator.

Crucial connections 

At Mass Fintech Hub, we’re committed to supporting the efforts of our members to attract and retain talent because we know that this is crucial in order to unleash innovation and nurture the next generation of fintech leaders. 

Students can learn more opportunities that Mass Fintech Hub provides for them here and are invited to view our online jobs board. Employers can apply to exhibit at our next career fair (on October 2) here. 

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