In a move that goes against the recent wave of layoffs in the financial and tech sectors, the London-based fintech firm Revolut has announced plans to increase its global workforce by approximately 40% in 2024. The company, which recently surpassed the 10,000-employee mark, aims to reach 11,500 staff by the end of the year.

Revolut Defies Industry Trend, Plans 40% Staff Increase in 2024

Revolut's expansion strategy will focus on bolstering its sales, customer support, and financial crime divisions. Over 70 positions are currently available in the UK alone.

Francesca Carlesi, the CEO of Revolut UK, emphasized the importance of recruiting top talent to support the company's continued growth: "We are delighted to be expanding across our global markets, including the UK, with hundreds of new roles across a range of specialties, all at a time when others are cutting back."

This announcement is a surprise, given the recent trend of job cuts and hiring freezes among major financial and tech companies. Global banks slashed more than 60,000 positions in 2023, while 259 tech firms have eliminated nearly 75,000 roles since the beginning of 2024, according to the Layoffs.fyi tracker.

Recently, Jack Dorsey's fintech firm, the payments and crypto company Block, decided to make significant cuts, planning to reduce 12,000 jobs in 2024.

The deteriorating condition of the fintech industry, including in the UK, is evidenced by the latest reports on the sector’s financing. According to Tracxn data, funding for tech startups in the UK fell 63% in 2023 to $4.2 billion.

Ambitious Plans vs Financial Challenges

Revolut's ambitious hiring plans occurred despite the company's recent financial challenges. In 2022, the firm reported a loss of £25 million due to increased administrative expenses, including staff wages, which resulted from doubling its global headcount to 6,000 during the year.

Revolut is exploring new ways to maintain sustainable profitability, which includes developing a media strategy focused on generating revenue by leveraging customer data for advertising partnerships. This was expected to generate $370 million by 2026 from ads.

The company's valuation has fluctuated in recent years, reaching a peak of $33 billion in 2021 before dropping to as low as $18 billion in 2022. However, by the end of last year, Schroders' implied valuation had risen to around $26 billion.

Securing a UK banking license from the local regulators would significantly boost Revolut's profitability, enabling the firm to offer products such as mortgages and credit cards to its customer base in the UK. The process usually takes about a year, but in the case of Revolut, it has already been dragging on for three years.