The pressure in the UK fintech sector is relentless, and it shows no signs of letting up. Those at the helm are often hit the hardest.
The data is staggering – 85% of managers and 92% of executives leading substantial engineering teams report having felt utterly burnt out. Nearly a third of our colleagues in the financial services industry are contemplating abandoning the sector altogether due to stress. Fintech job vacancies in the UK surged by 44% just last year. But even with that demand, we're all struggling to staff our teams properly as the IT skills gap continues to widen at an alarming pace.
Still, you’re expected to deliver, whether you have a full team or not. And there are several surefire routes to burnout:
- Juggling the day-to-day whilst shipping features against tight timelines.
- Overseeing large teams with staff coming and going through a revolving door.
- Building modern platforms that must somehow play nicely with antiquated banking and financial systems
- Walking the tightrope between strict compliance rules and ambitious delivery goals
It’s an awful lot to handle. And if that goes unchecked, it makes it harder to keep going.
To help you navigate this crisis, we’re sharing some thoughts on what's driving burnout among us engineering heads in fintech, especially in the UK, and how nearshoring might help alleviate your workload without compromising your momentum.
Let’s begin at the core.
Why does fintech leadership burn out?
In fintech, burnout builds up fast. One day, you're delegating tasks and onboarding a new hire. Next, you're buried in a backlog of urgent tasks, new compliance demands, and training someone who might quit within six months. You’re constantly switching between tech work, team management, and compliance, all while chasing unattainable targets.
And because fintech teams are often stuck interfacing legacy banking and finance systems, it feels like every product decision needs a legal sign-off. Between DORA, PSD3, AMLA, and other EU financial services rules, everything is changing, except the deadlines.
Instead of focusing on architecture or team development, your time gets swallowed up by mending bugs, managing urgent requests, and sifting through technical debt. You simply can’t plan ahead if you’re always stuck in the past. And as that tech debt grows, your team's pace slackens. 37% of engineering professionals report that efficiency, predictability, and productivity have declined over the past year.
And hiring isn’t getting easier either.
The tech industry’s 13.2% turnover rate is even higher in fintech. Finding people with the proper expertise, industry knowledge, and the right skills is rather difficult. Even when you find someone fitting, there’s no guarantee they’ll remain. And the whole thing begins, as witnessed many times by our fintech clients. Massive turnover in the core team and leaders forced to balance delivery whilst continuously recruiting and re-training. How do you not get swamped in circumstances like that?
The more pressure you take on, the more the cracks start to show. You start reacting instead of leading. And your team feels the weight of it, too.
What burnout looks like before it breaks you
Our People Partners regularly check in with tech department heads, not just to support delivery but to help protect leadership from burnout. According to them, spotting the early signs can sometimes be a tough job. What are they?
You’re knackered all the time
You feel overwhelmed and on edge
You’re less driven and less fulfilled
You dread beginning your day
You stop pushing for change
Avoid leadership burnout before it starts. Here’s how
Speed and stress often go hand in hand. But working at a relentless pace doesn’t have to come at the expense of your well-being or ability to lead. Here’s how to protect your energy and lead with more headspace.
Treat your time like the valuable resource it is
Calendars filled with back-to-back meetings, constant Teams or Slack pings, and knee-jerk decisions are exhausting over time.
Protecting your diary is protecting your team. Try async stand-ups, no-meeting days, and deep work time. Even a few undisturbed hours can make a big difference when it comes to solving problems and leading effectively.
Use automation to reduce mental load
Chasing invoices or handling mind-numbing tasks on repeat is not what leadership is about. But menial jobs can pile up fast.
Build space into your week to switch off
Many of our clients feel they can’t even step away for five minutes. But being “always on” dulls your judgment, drains creativity, and chips away at your ability to lead.
BlackFog research found that cybersecurity leaders who had structured stress support were more aligned with company strategy and more likely to stay in the job. The same goes for engineering leads.
Stop doing everything. Start doing only what matters.
Instead of ticking off every task, steer the ship. Set the direction, provide clarity, and be the support your team needs. Don’t get bogged down scrutinising every ticket and chasing every last deliverable. Use smart solutions to get back on track with your priorities.
For example, nearshoring helps you to shift back into leadership mode. Instead of firefighting or covering resource gaps, you get time to plan, mentor your teams, and think long-term. You’re stepping into the role only you can fill, and stop being the bottleneck. Here are a few examples of what we mean.
Lighten the fintech workload (without piling the risks) with nearshore dedicated teams
Burnout sets in when the pressure to deliver outweighs the ability to manage. That’s why we don’t just parachute extra hands to your teams. We build support around leaders, giving them room to breathe.
And your relief starts quickly. In just 4–8 weeks, we assemble and onboard your nearshore team so support arrives when you need it, not after the crunch has passed.
Every fintech client we work with gets support from two key roles: a People Partner and a Client Partner. They work closely with your leads and nearshore team to ease day-to-day strain and ensure smooth delivery without prolonged onboarding and communication delays.
Once your team is in place, we take care of everything else: HR, legal, equipment, onboarding logistics, and ongoing retention. You won’t have to worry about paperwork, benefits, or burnout triggers that often come with internal hires. Our people show up ready to work, seamlessly integrating with your team and your tools from day one. To make sure their alignment stays intact, we regularly check in on them and address any issues or motivational dips so you don’t have to. And if your priorities shift? You can scale your team up or down with minimal notice.
Just take a look at how one of our clients cut their tax processing time from two full days to just three hours. The augmented team slotted in quickly, built a tailored solution, and freed up their finance leadership to focus on strategy – and even take a proper holiday.
And because our recruitment is rock-solid, your team stays steady. With a 96% trial success rate and just 4.3% attrition, the engineers who join your team are the ones who stay. That continuity takes the pressure off your leads and avoids the churn of constant rehiring and training. Or compliance hassle. With over 120 roles filled for financial clients, our teams stay ahead of constantly shifting regulations. They monitor changes as they occur, helping you stay compliant without slowing down your delivery.
Lead with clarity, not burnout
The pressure in fintech isn’t going anywhere, but how you handle it can change.
With the right support in place, you don’t have to pick between speed and quality, risking being pushed to the edge in the process. Nearshoring gives you space to think, time to rest, and people who help you deliver without burning out.
Ready to take some pressure off your plate? Let’s chat!
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