Jump Trading

My perspective is as an engineer who has been at the firm for a few years (pre-COVID).

There are plenty of smart people here, though there are just a lot of people here. It's more or less a typical Chicago HFT firm inside, with standard benefits and perks. Good on WFH policy.

It has definitely changed for the worse during my time here. The rate of hiring is unbelievable, and little thought seems to go into how new people will be managed and integrated. Everyone just wants more headcount.

Doubling a big firm into a very big firm in 3 years without any structural changes has just created pandemonium and confusion. My manager told me the other day we are going to outsource some software development work to Romania. That is something I never thought I would hear.

Everyone is busy, and many things get started. Few get finished or show good results, though. There are profits in certain areas, but overall it feels stale despite the frantic pace. And with all of the people comes the exponential growth of politics.

The management says we are flat and without politics, but it is funny (and sad) how wrong that is. Nobody on my team believes that, and judging by informal conversations, it is not believed elsewhere.