China’s Big Four banks cut jobs as tech takes toll on tellers
Technology and slowing growth reduce need for frontline staff but demand still big for specialists in analysis and risk management, observers say
China’s big four state-owned banks quietly slashed roughly 19,000 jobs last year, as mobile phones and automated services cut the need for tellers.
Just a few years ago the four lenders – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China – were seen as “gold rice bowl” employers for their job stability and decent pay, but slowing economic growth and competition from emerging technology have made many jobs redundant.
Although the 18,824 positions shed last year accounted for just 1.14 per cent of the Big Four’s total payroll, more were likely to come, analysts said.
Guo Tianyong, banking professor at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, said the losses reflected the growing role of the market.
“Banks need to control costs in line with overall economic performance,” Guo said. “With the growing use of artificial intelligence and the internet, individual banks will reduce payrolls.”