Fidelity Hiring Spree Continues

What You Need to Know

Fidelity says it will have added 12,000 new jobs in the first three quarters of 2022.
About 43% of those jobs have been filled, leaving about 7,000 positions to be added before the end of September.
Fidelity also said Thursday it’s introducing new training and development programs.

Fidelity Investments says it will have added 12,000 new jobs this year, including new positions for advisors, by the end of the third quarter, in September.

At the same time, Fidelity said it was introducing new training and development programs as part of its “commitment to the next generation of investors, including the next generation of financial services talent.”

The hires will put Fidelity “on track to meet or exceed its hiring” in 2021, when the company made 16,600 new hires, it pointed out.

Almost 43% of the more than 12,000 new roles have been filled as of Thursday, Fidelity said. This leaves around 7,000 positions to be added.

The 12,000-plus jobs don’t include new hires planned for the fourth quarter that will enable Fidelity to meet or top the 2021 new hire count, it added.

Last year’s new hire count was more than double the 7,200 associates that Fidelity said it hired in 2020.

The positions are across all job functions at Fidelity, especially customer-facing positions (69%) and technology positions (14%), and “represent one of many ways Fidelity makes significant investments back into the customer experience,” it said in a news release.

The client-facing hires include 8,704 new roles, including financial advisors, customer service, licensed professionals, and sales and relationship management positions supporting retail, workplace and intermediary clients, according to Kirsten Kuykendoll, head of talent acquisition at Fidelity Investments.

Fidelity currently employs more than 57,000 associates, it said.

Hiring Spree

Fidelity said in April 2021 it was hiring 4,000 employees — including 2,500 financial consultants and customer service reps — as it moved into more than 20 new market areas. The firm said it aimed to bring on 1,000 remote licensed financial planners to serve clients in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit, New York and Washington, D.C.

In August 2021, Fidelity said it planned to make 9,000 new hires across the U.S. by the end of last year as the company saw record growth amid a surge in stock trading.

That hiring push was the third in less than a year by Fidelity, reflecting a boom in individual investing that had lifted the entire trading industry. The majority of those new positions were to be focused on client interactions and technology, the company said at the time.

New Training Programs

The new hires come as Fidelity says it’s sustaining growth across its businesses, including in assets under administration, daily trades and advisory assets.

The company’s growth allows it to further invest in technology, through new digital platforms and growing areas of customer interest, including cryptocurrency and direct indexing, Fidelity pointed out.

The new product offerings and solutions are being supported by the launch of new training programs that Fidelity said will “provide pathways for new hires to be part of the work that is shaping the future of financial services.”

One such experience, Launch, was “designed to promote ongoing education and career exploration as program participants split their time between customer service roles and other areas of the business,” Fidelity said.

Participants in that program will declare “minors,” where they will “explore a myriad of career paths, including operations, marketing, human resources, social media, digital advocacy, and data analytics,” it said.

Another program, ADAPT, was “designed to expose associates to careers at Fidelity” in crypto and blockchain work, the company said. Participants in the rotational program will be given hands-on projects and training across the business, including with Fidelity Digital Assets and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology.

“We know that people are looking for flexibility, variety, and the freedom to explore areas of interest, and Fidelity can offer that,” according to Kuykendoll.

The new career development programs will “help associates explore what’s next in their careers, learn skills for the future, and improve on processes across our businesses that will make an impact on peoples’ lives,” she said in a statement.

Fidelity had assets under administration of $11.3 trillion, including discretionary assets of $4.2 trillion, as of March 31, it said.