Neo Financial axes dozen Winnipeg jobs, shifts positions to Calgary

An online banking firm once deemed a “unicorn” in the tech world has axed its Winnipeg engineering department.

Twelve employees were let go Thursday by Neo Financial; the business has consolidated its engineering operations at its Calgary headquarters. Another three Winnipeg-based engineers were moved into different positions.

“As we looked at our business needs, just from a collaboration standpoint across teams, we felt that it made more sense to have our engineering group and department to be consolidated to one location,” said Calgary-based Neo Financial chief executive Andrew Chau.

Twelve engineering positions will now open in Calgary, Chau noted.

Severance packages and career transition services are among the offerings Neo is providing to the dozen former employees, Chau said. Meantime, the company is expanding its cybersecurity and customer operations staff in Winnipeg by roughly six positions.

Less than 100 of Neo Financial’s 600 employees reside in Winnipeg.

The business, which positions itself as competition to brick-and-mortar banks, secured more than $360 million in a fundraising round at the end of last year. It was labelled a unicorn company in 2022 for reaching a $1 billion valuation.

Still, in 2024, former employees at the Winnipeg office shared with media their experiences of quiet and frequent terminations over the past few years. The number of employees “isn’t necessarily commensurate” with the growth Neo experiences, Chau said.

“We’ve been able to do more with the same number of people across the board,” he added. “That’s where we actually have grown.”

Winnipeg will play a “key part” in Neo’s future growth, stated Yacine Bara, vice-president of operations.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com