It's the Technology. Period.

Doing more, better, with a smaller workforce, is the main outcome we should expect from the systemic and systematic application of advanced technology in the financial services industry. As of December 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the US financial services industry employing 8.4m people. This figure includes credit and non credit intermediation, securities and insurance activities. For good measure, we may want to add payroll, collection agencies and credit bureau activities, which increases the tally by an additional 400k for a grand total of 8.8m. For the past 6 years, the financial services industry has undergone a transformation, attempting to shed its industrial age structures, rebuilding itself alongside new digital paradigms.