Low volatility is not the core reason for Wall Street’s employment malaise.

We were interested in CNBC’s Bob Pisani’s recent article pointing out the so-called “paradox” in equities hitting a record high while Wall Street headcounts and compensation head south. Our contention with his argument is that it ascribes much of the paradox to recent years of low market volatility, whereas we think technology is the biggest driver of Wall Street’s secular headcount decline. We don’t think tech will kill the majority of financial services jobs anytime soon, but software is certainly having its impact. So too is low volatility, but does anyone really believe that if the VIX migrates towards its long-term average, it will lead to a hiring boom? If you do, we’ve got an ICO backed by Floyd Mayweather we’d like to sell you.

This article was published as part of Weekly Briefing No. 93