Technology jobs in hedge funds now: High hiring, low pay, no hybrid work

Getting a tech job in a hedge fund next year may be a far less daunting challenge than it was in 2024. Headhunters are saying that hiring is on an upward trend, but not everyone is set to benefit.

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Andy Legg, director at executive search firm Riviera Partners, says that hedge fund hiring for technologists has been "up significantly since mid-year." He says this is only the second time that H2 hiring has exceeded H1 in the past 15 years, attributing the change to a decrease in "recession fears that clouded the talent market and hiring confidence."

AI experts are of course in high demand, but appetite for them is much greater in other fields. Legg says there has been a "huge uptick" in AI hiring in the healthcare industry, and he expects private equity firms to build out their AI teams next year, too.

This might be in part because hedge funds are souring on pure technical specialists. Craig Whiting, managing director of RLS Search, says there is a "clear trend towards candidates who bring multiple skills to the table." This means, even as an engineer, you'll need much broader domain knowledge and excellent communication. 

Another headhunter, based in Paris, said it's more of a recovery period than a prosperous one. "Things are starting to pick up," she said. "There were a lot of hiring freezes last year, not so much anymore." Nowadays, candidates have to be strong, as the market is "less candidate-driven than it used to be, and every hire has to make sense."

For some funds, this means hybrid workers are off the menu. Whiting says funds are shifting towards 4/5 days in the office per week and forming a stigma around hybrid work. One portfolio manager told him they "worry the environment [candidates are] coming from is not at our level" if they're spending as little as two days per week working from home. 

Big names in the space have previously spoken out against remote work. Ken Griffin said last year that remote work can harm corporate culture in a way that incentivizes layoffs. 

Some funds disagree; D.E. Shaw says most of its employees are only in the office three days per week, while Bridgewater Associates allows its staff to come in as little as two days per week. 

Two Sigma appears to be the best place for hybrid work... for now. Reviews on Blind say that staff are only asked to come into the office five times per month at present but fear the policy could be changed by the fund's new, more corporate leadership. Two Sigma did not respond to a request for comment.

Although staff are expected to come in more, they're also earning... less. Whiting says compensation offers for new hires are "coming down slightly," with funds instead relying on name-value to attract candidates. The strategy seems to be working; Whiting says there's high voluntary retention "across the board."

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