JPMorgan-Backed Startup Bucks Job-Cut Trend With Hiring Spree

Thought Machine, a cloud-native banking startup that counts JPMorgan Chase & Co. among its backers, plans to increase its workforce by more than 20% this year, a sharp contrast to ongoing efforts across banking and financial-technology companies to streamline their workforces.

The firm will make 125 hires this year, mostly for its engineering team in London, according to a statement. It will also open an office in Miami and add workers in India, Japan and South Africa.

“It’s not all doom and gloom in the technology sector,” Paul Taylor, Thought Machine’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. ...