37 listed banks collectively added 6,505 employees last year, with average salaries experiencing increases and decreases. Three categories of positions were concentrated in optimization.

Securities Times reporter An Yi

More than half of listed banks have already disclosed their 2025 annual reports. As of the time of this publication, among 57 A-share and H-share banks, 37 have released their annual performance, and information on employee compensation has come into view. According to a review based on comparable data, listed banks’ overall labor cost expenditures are trending upward.

Meanwhile, those 37 banks together added 6,505 new employees last year. The newly hired staff were still primarily directed toward areas such as business marketing and information technology. Employee groups with continued disadvantages in clerk roles and educational background have been steadily optimized and adjusted.

As for compensation per employee, joint-stock banks—whose compensation mechanisms are more flexible, whose market orientation is higher, and whose branch institutions are concentrated in developed cities—are still at the top. However, Zhejiang Bank and Everbright Bank saw more noticeable declines in compensation per employee.

Overall compensation for joint-stock banks is moving downward

As it is understood, bank employee compensation mainly shows up in the income statement under “Business and administrative expenses,” specifically the item “Employee expenses.” Some banks also refer to it as “human resource costs” or “employee costs.” Employee expenses specifically include salaries and bonuses, as well as social insurance, the five insurances and one housing fund, union dues, training fees, and other items. Among these, salaries and bonuses are what are commonly called employee compensation, while the remaining items are collectively classified as benefits.

Among the 37 banks mentioned above, most have increased investment in human resources to support the implementation of their strategies. Among them, Luzhou Bank and Weihai Bank saw their human resources investment rise by 17% and 12% respectively last year. Chongqing Bank’s increase was also close to 10%, ranking among the leaders in the peer group.

At the same time, there were 11 banks whose total labor costs decreased slightly. Among them, Everbright Bank declined year over year by nearly 10%, with the largest drop ranking first. Jiangxi Bank, Dongguan Rural Commercial Bank, and Zhejiang Bank also saw declines of more than 5%.

Regarding compensation per employee, calculated using equivalent headcount (the average number of employees at the beginning and end of the year), although the amount for the 37 banks as a whole showed a downward trend for joint-stock banks overall, the figures still remain in an absolute leading position.

Among them, CITIC Bank’s compensation per employee inched up to 600k yuan, temporarily ranking first among joint-stock banks. China Merchants Bank’s compensation per employee has continued to decline for four consecutive years, falling back to within 580k yuan. Industrial Bank continued to keep it around 560k yuan, with a slight year-over-year increase.

Six banks with revenue per employee exceeding 2.8 million

Listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks are at the forefront in compensation per employee across the banking industry. Behind this are multiple factors: first, listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks have relatively concentrated branch networks and employees, mainly distributed across major cities in China, so they need competitive compensation to attract talent.

Second, there are differences in employee size and educational structure among different types of banks. The proportion of employees with undergraduate education or above at listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks is generally higher than 85%, and their corresponding compensation per employee is also relatively high.

Third, compared with state-owned big banks, listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks have more flexible mechanisms and are more market-oriented. Faced with relatively intense market competition, to attract talent, the benefits offered are also more enticing—especially the compensation for business backbones and digital talent.

More importantly, matched with compensation per employee are the higher per-capita productivity of listed joint-stock banks and city commercial banks. Data show that among the 37 banks mentioned above, six have revenue per employee exceeding 2.8 million yuan, including four joint-stock banks and two city commercial banks. Among them, CITIC Bank’s revenue per employee last year was close to 3.2 million yuan, ranking first. Ping An Bank and Industrial Bank came next, with revenue per employee of approximately 3.18 million yuan and 3.09 million yuan respectively.

Among city commercial banks, Huishang Bank and Chongqing Bank both had revenue per employee of around 2.8 million yuan, placing them at the leading level. Earlier, Luzhou Bank led among city commercial banks, but its revenue per employee dropped by 20% to 2.72 million yuan.

Significant optimization across three types of positions

According to statistics, among the 37 listed banks above, the total number of employees in 2025 increased by 6,505 compared with the previous year, with the increment lower than in 2024. In general, the number of banks that increased headcount and the number that reduced headcount were roughly the same.

Overall, the newly added personnel at listed banks were mainly concentrated in areas such as business marketing and information technology. According to statistics, among six state-owned big banks, some increased and some decreased their employee headcount, resulting in a net increase of about 1,500 people in total. Among them, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of Communications respectively added about 3,100 and 2,200 employees. Bank of Communications has continued to increase headcount for four consecutive years. Last year, among the bank’s domestic banking institutions, the number of sales and outreach personnel increased by more than 1,700, and the number of financial technology personnel increased by more than 700.

In joint-stock banks, China Merchants Bank’s employee headcount has maintained a long-term upward trend. Last year, it added nearly 4,400 employees, ranking first among the 37 banks above. From the perspective of professional composition, last year the total number of employees in its corporate finance and retail finance business lines increased by more than 2,400.

At the same time, the banking industry continues to advance employee structure adjustment and optimization. Overall, the industry’s headcount reduction shows fairly consistent characteristics, mainly concentrated in three categories of personnel and positions: first, positions with relatively high substitutability, such as tellers, security staff, telephone customer service, and credit card sales; second, as banks aim to improve quality and efficiency and shorten the management radius, they streamline internal institutions and reduce the proportion of back- and middle-office personnel; third, employees whose educational background is not advantageous. According to statistics, in 2025, at the six state-owned big banks, the total number of employees with junior college education or below decreased by more than 38k.

(Editor: Qian Xiaorui)

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