I think a great start would be for you to introduce yourself, who you are and what you do at TalentBet!
I’m Sennette. I am now the CEO of TalentBet; prior to that I was Director of Talent. We are a recruitment provider, focusing mainly on iGaming and fintech industries. We have our head office based in Malta.
We launched at the beginning of 2023. It was launched by the founders around February time and I myself joined in April. We on-boarded a team that had specific recruitment experience within the iGaming and Fintech field. We offer recruitment to all companies that fall under the spectrum in Malta and everywhere else. I think what makes us different is that we want to stay niche; we aren’t a general recruiter. We grew quite fast, faster than we thought we would, which is great. With the gaming industry being what it is and everyone being connected, we know a lot of people and we ended up on-boarding a lot of clients very quickly.
Gaming companies are very open to working with agencies. I think it’s because it’s such a niche market and there’s a high turnover in the sense of people moving within the industry, so it’s harder to find the best talent. Plus, prior to recruitment I worked within iGaming and Malta is very small. So you tend to get to know everybody and it’s very easy to network.
We have 40 companies that need [recruits] but there’s only 20 people qualified, so it becomes a rat race
Things like Brexit and Covid-19, even though they were a while back, have had ripple effects. What we've heard and seen is that it’s caused some difficulty in people coming overseas to Malta to work in iGaming. Is that still something you find?
Yes and no. I think the Covid effect balanced Brexit a bit. I’m British and I live in Malta, so I have a specific Brexit status. For everyone that was here, Brexit didn’t affect us because we were already working here. It wasn’t an issue at all. When it comes to bringing people over to Malta, let’s say you have expats that are in Gibraltar, or they’re very experienced like a COO or a CTO. If they’re somebody specific within their field, even if they’re British, companies are open to doing visas for them. Maybe not so much of your British customer support agent, you know?
I think Covid balanced things in the sense that, since Covid, companies have really become much more open-minded to remote work. Companies have realised everybody had to switch and the gaming industry being as adaptable as it is, switched and then realised 'oh, hold on. We can actually run a business this way.' A lot of companies now, especially the bigger ones, want people at the office. They say: ‘if everyone’s remote, we’re not building a company culture and we want to get that back.’
But I would say the majority of companies now in Malta offer hybrid - I actually don’t know any company that requires employees to be in the office Monday to Friday
Companies, especially small ones and start-ups, offer remote work because, even though it might not be ideal for people to not be in the office, they know since Covid people want to work remote. Companies know that if they want the best talent, they have to be open minded.
I think what makes us different is that we want to stay niche; we aren’t a general recruiter
How do you think hybrid and remote work has impacted expectations of jobs? And do you think hybrid/remote has changed the relationship between employers and employees in the iGaming space?
It has its pros and cons. From an employer’s point of view, you’re going to get better candidates because when you offer a role remote you’re making it available to everyone. In terms of hybrid, I think companies are being forced to show they are flexible. I think companies don’t particularly want to give hybrid.
I think as a business, if you’re going to request them to be there you would always want them there. I think they’re feeling like the hand is forced - if we don’t offer it and a candidate has an offer with us or an offer with a company offering hybrid, the other company is going to get them.
In terms of the culture? I noticed when I was at SiGMA recently how many times you hear people say: ‘Oh, finally we get to meet’ or ‘we’ve got people coming over.' They’ve never met in person and I think that’s one of the cons. But then you have the pro of knowing you’re able to get more quality people and you can offer more when it’s remote.
Do you think having these remote and hybrid roles have been a factor that’s helped Malta grow in the iGaming space? Do you think that’s been beneficial for it?
I don’t necessarily think that it’s helped Malta, the country as such, because what it’s done is allow people to leave Malta and continue their careers. A lot of people in Covid times left Malta, went home and their companies gave them the flexibility to work remote. Malta has lost quite a lot of good candidates.
I think for Malta itself, it wasn’t so much a positive. At one point, everyone was in Malta. Now people are scattered everywhere. So, although they could be working for a company based in Malta, they’re not physically here in Malta.
On the islands, people frequently move from job to job, loyalty isn’t always there. How do you think that’s impacted the market and how do you identify a long-term candidate?
It’s really hard. At the beginning when iGaming was starting out, people used to be more loyal. Then the gaming industry became saturated because, back then, there were fewer companies. So you’d get into a good company, they’d offer you a good salary and you would be loyal and slowly work your way up. Now it’s changed - someone can start in a company entry-level role, then a year later they’re a CRM coordinator, then another company will come and take them for Head of CRM.
There are more jobs and companies than there are people available. So the gaming industry, because it grew so much, has a need for roles. Let’s say, for example, you have 20 candidates in Malta but we have 40 roles. We have 40 companies that need them but there’s only 20 people qualified, so it becomes a rat race. Companies will offer them more money, more benefits and more flexibility. You have to work hybrid now? We’ll give you fully remote.
I don’t think it’s a case of them not being committed or loyal. I think it’s a case of other companies. There’re so many companies now, if you are a trained professional in this industry, it’s hard to stay at one company because there’s always another that needs someone like you who’s going to offer you more. So there are people that are very loyal still, but I think it goes a bit above just the salary - it’s the whole working environment, who your manager is. Sometimes people leave managers, not jobs.
Some of what companies can offer nowadays is insane because they want the best people. It’s hard to remain loyal and it’s not because that’s not their character or they’re not loyal people. It’s just that they could get a better offer somewhere else or a bigger promotion somewhere else. People now in gaming progress so fast. It used to be much slower. Companies, because they need people, are willing to take people on the off chance that they’re good for the role. It’s a very competitive market out there.
I think because the industry now is all so spread out, it’s the same everywhere. I still find Malta very appealing, but I don’t find it as easy to sell as I did five years ago
There’s a push for diversity. Companies want people from diverse backgrounds in the industry, women and people from outside gambling. How do you go about demystifying iGaming and getting new people from diverse backgrounds into the industry?
I think iGaming now doesn’t have as much of a reputation as it used to. When I first started in recruitment, there would be times when I would speak to candidates and they would say: ‘I’m not working in gaming, it goes against my beliefs’. In the last five years, I’ve not heard that once. I think the gaming industry has become much more appealing, especially to people who move abroad. In Malta, everybody knows the gaming industry pays better than the local market. Because the majority of the positions in gaming are in a niche market, employers do want people with experience. The only roles where you don’t are entry level and even then they need a language: German, Swedish or maybe Finnish.
Tech roles also don’t usually require gaming, nor do a lot of compliance roles. They don’t always have to be from the industry. It’s very easy to sell them across because of what gaming companies offer. They offer good salaries, good bonuses and healthcare packages. A lot of them offer gym memberships, healthcare plans, Friday beers and such. They offer a lot more than your local companies.
People are also seeing that fintech is becoming popular and it’s interlinked with gaming. So people are moving back and forth from fintech to gaming. Overall, I just think there’s a lot more awareness about these industries and people are more open minded.
When you look at TalentBet’s management and specialist team, it’s entirely made up of women. What is an all-female working environment like?
I’ve been in recruitment for the past 10 years and I’ve predominantly worked with females. It just tends to be a role that is more drawn towards women than men. There are a lot of men in recruitment, don’t get me wrong. We just happen to be more females. Actually, we got an office cat at one point and we made sure he was a boy so that we had a balance. So we have a male. It just wasn’t human!
Everyone respects everyone, we all work the same way. Plus, there’s the fun factor. One of the things I said when I agreed to join TalentBet was that I really want to bring fun back because it can get so diluted with admin. At the end of the day, your job as a recruiter is to help people find jobs. It doesn’t need to be stressful. It should be fun. You’re interacting with people, you’re speaking to people and you’re finding them jobs. It’s rewarding. Do they always get the job? No. But you’ve built that relationship and you’ve put in the work there.
We were very careful with the team selection. We wanted to make sure it’s a nice office environment. We have a policy; as long as the job’s done, you do what you want. There’s no set start time. There’s no set finish time. Being a recruiter, if you’re good at your job and you’re doing it properly, the job never stops. Clients will be messaging me at 10 o’clock at night. It’s a very fun environment, everyone gets along. I think if there’s any guys there, it would be exactly the same and it’s not that we don’t hire men. It is the way it is at the moment.
Have you noticed any Malta-specific employment trends that you don’t really see anywhere else?
No, not really. I think because the industry now is all so spread out, it’s the same everywhere. I still find Malta very appealing, but I don’t find it as easy to sell as I did five years ago. I think people are more aware of other locations now and are more open to more remote opportunities. If they know and they’ve worked in the industry for a while, they’re already familiar with Malta and they’ll have already formed their opinion on whether they want to be based here or not. I don’t see any specific trends for Malta. Maybe the industry in general, but not specifically for Malta.
Well, we’ll wrap up here - if there’s anything else you want to tell us, maybe anything new coming to TalentBet in the next couple of months?
We’re looking to expand even further. The plans for Q1 and Q2 would be to expand more on the fintech side because iGaming is what most of the people we had originally were experienced in. So we’re going to grow in fintech and then we’re probably going to try to move into different niche markets, maybe the US market, and we’ll employ some specific recruiters that have experience there.
