Facing the competition from online payment giants such as Ant Financial and Tencent Holdings, China's four major banks are cutting costs and trying to adjust their huge outlets. In 20 16, the number of employees in these four major banks decreased for the first time in six years.
Last week, a profit analysis report of China's four major banks said that at the end of 20 16, the number of employees of China Industrial and Commercial Bank, China Construction Bank, China Agricultural Bank and China Bank decreased 17824, at least for the first time since 20 1 1. Part of the reason for this phenomenon is that banks in China are trying to lay off about 3 million people at their outlets.
Bing Lin, an analyst with Taiwan Province Qunyi Securities in Shanghai, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday: "Bank outlets no longer need so many employees. Now that online banking is so developed, customers no longer use so much cash for transactions. People now want banks to provide different services. "
Nevertheless, banks are trying to keep up with the rapid changes in China's financial system, because the ant financial services of Tencent and Alibaba are eroding their traditional businesses by providing more convenient mobile payment services. According to the data provided by China Banking Association, in 20 16, more than 84% of bank transfers in China were not made at bank outlets, while in 20 13, the proportion was about 63%.
According to the banking regulator, there are about 3.8 million bankers in China. According to a report by Zhou Kunping, an analyst of Shanghai Bank of Communications, in April 1 day, about 80% of them are bank tellers.
These analysts of Bank of Communications said that this is in sharp contrast with foreign banks. About 60% to 80% employees of foreign banks are engaged in marketing and sales, while most banks in China only account for 20% to 30% employees.
According to the data of China Banking Association, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest bank with over16,000 outlets, laid off14,090 tellers last year, some of which were directly laid off, while others were transferred to other departments. The number of tellers in China Construction Bank decreased by 30,007, and that in Agricultural Bank decreased by 10842. Bank of Communications analysts also said in the report that continuous post adjustment will help reduce the number of tellers in China banking industry by 20% in the next decade.
ICBC said in its annual report that it plans to control the total number of outlets, install more ATMs, and develop online banking and other banking services that rely on artificial intelligence.
The successive layoffs of major domestic banks are also forced by performance pressure. Thanks to lower costs and lower-than-expected provision for bad debts, the total profits of China's four major banks in 20 16 barely avoided the first decline since 2004. According to the data collected by our agency, the net profit of China's four major banks in 20 16 was 858.2 billion yuan, up 0.2% year-on-year.
The financial report shows that the total number of employees of China's four major banks at the end of 20 16 was1630,000.
According to the data compiled by our institution, even after last year's layoffs, four of the top five listed banks with the largest number of employees in the world are still Chinese banks. Russian savings bank ranked fourth.