In the midst of the ongoing economic downturn and operational pressures, the so-called “iron rice bowl” of the Chinese banking industry is embroiled in a wave of “pay cuts and layoffs”. Several banks recently released their semi-annual reports for 2024, with Ping An Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB), and four other banks collectively reducing their workforce by over four thousand employees in the first half of the year.
On August 20th, SPDB disclosed its performance report for the first half of 2024 on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. During the first half of this year, SPDB saw a decrease in operating income compared to the same period last year.
According to data, SPDB reduced its workforce by 1,663 employees in the first half of the year, with the number of employees dropping from 60,706 at the beginning of the year to 59,043 by mid-year, representing a reduction of approximately 2.7%. Over the past year, employee expenses decreased from 13.729 billion yuan to 13.640 billion yuan.
Public records show that SPDB is a Chinese joint-stock commercial bank headquartered in Shanghai. The state-owned enterprise Shanghai International Group Limited is the largest shareholder of SPDB, accounting for 21.57%. The second-largest shareholder is the central state-owned enterprise China Mobile Group, with a stake of 18.18%.
As of August 20th, several banks including Nanjing Bank, Ping An Bank, SPDB, and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank have released their semi-annual reports for 2024.
According to Oriental Wealth Choice data, among the listed banks that have released their semi-annual reports, except for a slight increase of 28 employees at Jiangsu Bank, Nanjing Bank, Ping An Bank, SPDB, and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank collectively reduced their workforce by 4,116 employees in the first half of the year.
Among them, Ping An Bank saw the largest reduction in staff. According to Oriental Wealth Choice data, the latest total number of employees at Ping An Bank is 40,830, compared to 43,119 at the end of 2023, reflecting a reduction of 2,289 employees.
Before the layoffs at Ping An Bank, there were rumors of “pay cuts” at China Construction Bank, one of the four major state-owned joint-stock commercial banks.
According to a report by “National Business Daily” on July 4th, news about a 10% pay cut at the head office of China Construction Bank sparked market discussion. The news indicated that two relevant sources at China Construction Bank revealed that the bank is comprehensively adjusting compensation, covering not only the functions at the head office but also extending to various subsidiaries within the group. The average pay cut for head office personnel slightly exceeds 10%, with higher-ranking positions experiencing larger reductions. The extent of pay cuts varies among subsidiaries.
News of pay cuts at banks is not new. In May of this year, media reports indicated that several employees at Ping An Bank mentioned that their monthly performance bonuses were discounted to varying degrees, with some business departments receiving discounts of up to 40%.
According to Caixin, a customer manager at China Construction Bank in a second-tier city bluntly stated that this year’s reductions were more than just 10%, emphasizing significant pressure from performance indicators.
A staff member at the head office of China Construction Bank told Jiemian News that their department had already experienced a decrease in pay last year. This was also reflected in their publicly available financial reports.