The Impact of Technology on the Financial Industry and the Dilemma of Financial Professionals

The Deepseek series of models have been put into local business practices in many financial institutions. Banks, securities firms, public funds, etc. have recently announced their access to the model one after another.

In the field of investment research, Deepseek has shown its transformative value. A research report assisted by the Deepseek model was recently released. Obviously, the ecosystem of the financial industry under the impact of technology is changing, and this trend also affects the personnel structure adjustment and employment choices in the financial industry.

Picture source: TuChong

A headhunter focusing on the financial field said that the overall recruitment situation in the financial industry has turned colder this year. Many employees have also reduced the frequency of job - hopping. The number of positions released by institutions has also decreased, and the overall annual package has shrunk to a certain extent compared with the past. However, the importance of technology - related positions has gradually increased. Compared with candidates with a traditional financial industry background, those with a composite background are more valued and the demand for them has also increased.

In terms of campus recruitment, the positions in securities firms and the buy - side that were once the focus of financial graduates have shrunk this year. Especially, the investment banking sector, which was once the favorite of high - educated students, has 'declined'. Some financial graduates' choices are starting to tend towards stability. Entering a bank has become the first choice for many fresh graduates, and some graduates have chosen to change careers and no longer engage in the financial industry.

A financial master from a 211 university in South China (pseudonym) said, 'I've only got an offer from the head office of a bank so far, and many of my classmates have also chosen banks. In the past, entering a bank after graduating from a finance major was the last choice, but this year everyone thinks it's already good to have a bank offer.'

Acceptance and Adaptation

'I didn't expect this when I cross - applied for a postgraduate degree in finance,' said the above - mentioned graduate. He graduated from a financial postgraduate program this year. Two years ago, he cross - applied from a science and engineering university in Wuhan to a finance master's program at a 211 university in South China. When asked why he made this choice, he said, 'I majored in chemistry in my undergraduate studies. I chose the major completely according to my own interests at that time. After graduation, I found that I was not interested in the relevant work.' 'I thought the financial industry had high incomes when I took the finance entrance exam, but this year's situation is really unexpected.' He mentioned that his anxiety lasted for about half a year starting from the autumn recruitment last year. 'I once thought it was because of my lack of ability. I sent my resumes to the research institutes of securities firms and buy - side research positions that I was interested in, but they all went nowhere. Fortunately, I got offers from two bank head - offices as management trainees in the spring recruitment. My anxiety eased a little after having choices.'

He is not alone. The sudden change also disrupted Nini's (pseudonym) plan. Since she was admitted to the finance major of a top - 5 university, she has planned an idealized path for herself. She started internships during her freshman year holidays and has tried many positions such as those in the Big Four, the buy - side, and the sell - side. 'I wanted to experience what each position was like before finding a job. I once thought I would become a glamorous investment banking lady, wearing nice suits and traveling around the world. Unexpectedly, by the time I graduated this year, investment banking had become a sunset industry. The world changes so fast,' she said. Nini said that she has now realized the cycle of the financial industry. 'Only when it happens to yourself can you feel it most deeply. Being strict with myself all the time can't change the trend of the tide. Now I go to interviews at any company. I've decided to go wherever I can get an offer.' She told that after the interview clips of DeepSeek's relevant person were exposed, she has started learning programming and said that if there are new opportunities in fintech, she might choose a more challenging direction to explore. 'I, a straight - A student, have learned my first lesson after entering society: acceptance and adaptation,' she said.

Internship Tutors Are Also Anxious

Artificial intelligence represented by DeepSeek has swept through like a whirlwind, changing the direction of many industries. 'Actually, long before DeepSeek became really popular, we had already started building a lot of AIGC - related technologies. After three years of practice, the work efficiency in text analysis has been significantly improved. Some leading technology companies have also developed some AI algorithms, which are widely used in bond trading. But overall, it hasn't had a decisive impact on performance yet,' said a financial IT employee in Shanghai. After DeepSeek became popular, its business applications in the financial industry were immediately implemented. Recently, a research report was released, which was based on the decoding of 2,715 quarterly reports by DeepSeek. It pointed out that 'with the help of DeepSeek, we were able to systematically analyze the differences in market views and preferences among different types of fund managers, which basically covered the mainstream investment ideas in the market. The traditional practice of only analyzing star fund managers has limitations.' Based on four dimensions of performance, scale, seniority, and region, fund managers of active public funds with a scale of over 200 million were divided into 12 categories, and 2,715 fund reports for the fourth quarter of 2024 were fed to the DeepSeek R1 model for a detailed comparative analysis. The prompts included 19 questions in four aspects: policy macro, market environment, industry theme, and personal evaluation.

The impact of technology has also increased the anxiety of sell - side analysts, and some graduates are also thinking about how to choose their future career directions. Wang Qi (pseudonym), a fresh graduate interning at the sell - side research institute of a securities firm in South China, said, 'Recently, the tutors in our company have been discussing whether DeepSeek will lead to the unemployment of researchers. Now, some tasks such as data collection and document organization are all done through DeepSeek. In the past, these 'dirty work' were all done by interns.' Wang Qi also revealed his job - hunting experience. Since he didn't get into the research institute of the securities firm, he self - doubted for a while. Now, seeing his internship tutors so anxious about the future, he seems to have let it go. As for the future, he said, 'Let's first see what I can do.' What has also been changed is the business model. In the field of intelligent investment advisory, which is more closely connected with customers, some quick - reacting securities firms have taken the lead in making arrangements. In 2024, Huatai Securities took the lead in cooperating with Doubao under ByteDance to launch the 'Huatai Stock Market Assistant'. Users can learn about the latest market data, capital flow, etc. through this intelligent investment advisor. However, in line with the principle of strong supervision in the financial industry, when it comes to investment strategies, the AI assistants of securities firms have optimized relevant algorithms and cannot directly provide buying and selling suggestions.

The New Dilemma of Financial Professionals

With the development of technology, AI - related industries have become the 'wealth - creating kings', and the value of financial professionals who once stood at the top of the pyramid is not as high as before. A recruitment notice shows that a top large - model company in Hangzhou is recruiting talents with a maximum monthly salary of 260,000 yuan and an ultra - high treatment of 24 salaries a year. Calculated according to the maximum salary, the pre - tax annual income can reach more than six million yuan. There was a time when it was widely rumored in the industry that fund managers had annual salaries of one million or even tens of millions.

Screenshot source: Boss Zhipin

Continuous iteration and upgrading are the only fate in the technological era, and financial professionals have to face this impact. 'The importance of IT seems to be becoming more and more obvious. Recently, an 85 - post IT employee in our company was promoted to senior management, which was very rare in the past,' said an employee of a public fund. From the feedback of financial headhunters, although the overall annual package in the financial industry has shrunk this year, the budget in some areas is still relatively abundant, and the requirements for technology are getting higher and higher. Traditional financial businesses such as investment research and quantitative analysis also need some talents with a technical background. 'Intuitively speaking, the value of a traditional financial professional degree seems to be depreciating,' the headhunter mentioned. The once - glamorous employment high - grounds such as investment banking, research institutes, and the buy - side don't seem to be so popular this year. It is learned that many financial graduates have chosen to return to banks. Xiaohong (pseudonym) and her boyfriend will start working at a bank in Shenzhen together. Why return to the bank? They said, 'If there is no income guarantee, then choose a place closer to resources. Obviously, compared with other financial institutions, the role of banks as a reservoir is more obvious.' However, at the same time, it is learned from the banking industry that some banks have started to implement the outsourcing system for lobby managers. 'Cost reduction is the main consideration. Outsourced employees are uniformly managed by the outsourcing company, which is beneficial to the company's management pressure and cost.' A recruitment information for an outsourced bank lobby manager was found on the recruitment website. It only requires a junior college degree. The main responsibilities include staying at the sub - branch, developing potential customers from payroll - issuing enterprises, and assisting with small - scale tasks in the sub - branch lobby. In terms of income, the comprehensive salary including basic salary, card - activation rewards, product commissions, and subsidies can range from 6,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan.

Screenshot source: Boss Zhipin

The changes in the industry are intensifying, and the crisis of traditional financial professionals under the impact of technology is becoming more and more obvious. A securities firm employee said, 'Although I've ranked among the top sales in the company, I've heard that salary cuts are not graded, and those at the top may even face larger cuts. It's impossible not to be anxious. For now, I can only take one step at a time.' The dilemma is always there, and only change is constant, sighed the above - mentioned employee.