Investor concerns over a looming recession dramatically shifted the tech landscape a year ago. Runaway inflation and a committed response from the Fed raised the cost of capital, and forced investors and entrepreneurs to recalibrate their fundraising and growth expectations. Profit now mattered more than scaling—arguably a necessary and overdue correction—but also encouraged major layoffs in an effort to cut costs.

Indicators may be shifting in a more positive direction. With it comes the opportunity to adjust operations in order to leverage market realities and turn them into a competitive edge.

Responding to unlocked wealth

If, as some market intelligence leaders suggest, the Fed will successfully achieve its intended “soft landing,” then we may see interest rates begin to fall in the medium term. This may spur a series of cascading phenomena, including a refi boom and a move away from savings into spending and rising aggregate demand.

According to David Russell, VP of Market Intelligence at TradeStation, the US economy may also be in the midst of a notable shift in domestic production. “We are seeing a 70% to 80% [year-over-year] increase in construction of factories in the United States,” Russell said. “We're seeing a tremendous improvement in American production, and we’re seeing a narrowing of the trade gap.”

With that in mind, there may be additional incentive for fintechs to build products for industrial players, both building out new products from scratch as well as adjusting existing B2B solutions to work in sectors with little penetration by fintechs.

Scaling intentionally

Unlocked consumer wealth may encourage fintechs to adjust their product development teams to investment- rather than savings-focused products, requiring hires with appropriate backgrounds in these new areas.

Product teams won’t be the only areas to see growth. Scaling to anticipate these shifts may require first building out recruitment teams. Sales and support teams may see their ranks swell as well, given new growth targets and swelling numbers of clients.

Setting priorities straight

Fintechs and other employers have an opportunity to grow responsibly in the face of a bull market, and learn from previous operational and strategic blunders that led to more than 150,000 layoffs in the tech industry over the past year.

Solving for efficiency and revenue over growth can help prevent the episodic jolts that have recently defined the job market, and create sustainable economies and employment experiences in the coming years.