Amid the continued impact of the downturn in the economy, China’s securities firms have been affected, with layoffs and pay cuts more pronounced than in previous years. As of December 12, the number of employees in the securities industry has decreased by over 5% compared to last year, with some large securities firms laying off more than a thousand people.
According to the China Securities Association (referred to as the CSA), as of December 12, the total number of employees in comparable securities firms was 332,000, a decrease of 18,900 from the end of last year, representing a 5.28% decrease.
Data shows that this year, the number of employees in 97 securities firms has decreased, with only 15 securities firms experiencing positive growth in their workforce.
The companies with the largest personnel changes are Guosen Securities, Citic Securities, and GF Securities, which have reduced staff by 1,250, 1,122, and 1,055 respectively. Other major securities firms that have made significant layoffs include Guotai Junan Securities, GF Securities, Changjiang Securities, Citic Jiantou Securities, Founder Securities, and CITIC Securities, with staff reduction numbers all exceeding 500; 34 securities firms have seen a decrease of over 200 employees.
Apart from layoffs, salaries of employees in the industry are also decreasing.
Many securities firms have adjusted their salary structures since last year and implemented pay cuts in multiple departments.
Leading securities companies, the “Three Central Securities and One Huatai”, including Citic Securities, Citic Jiantou, CITIC Securities, and Huatai Securities, have all experienced declines in total salaries in the first half of the year. Citic Securities’ total salary in the first half of the year shrank to 9.793 billion RMB, an 8.9% decrease from the previous year; CITIC Securities decreased by over 24% to 4.369 billion RMB; in the first half of this year, among 41 Chinese listed securities firms, about 80% of them had a decrease in average salaries, with 9 firms experiencing a decline of over 20%.