(Note: Minsheng Bank employee expenses include directors’ compensation, and the total number of employees of some banks includes labor dispatch)
5 banks saw reductions in employee numbers
As of the end of 2024, among the nine joint-stock banks, China Merchants Bank has the largest number of employees, exceeding 110,000; China CITIC Bank, Industrial Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and Minsheng Bank all have more than 60,000 employees; China Everbright Bank and Ping An Bank have more than 40,000 employees; Huaxia Bank has more than 30,000 employees; and Zheshang Bank has more than 20,000 employees.
Compared with 2023, four banks, Hua Xia Bank, China CITIC Bank, Ping An Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank and Minsheng Bank, have decreased. Among them, Hua Xia Bank and Ping An Bank lost 1,948 and 2,108 employees respectively.
At the same time, some banks have added more than 2,000 employees. For example, in 2024, Zheshang Bank will add 2,331 people; Industrial Bank will add 2,147 people; China Merchants Bank and China Everbright Bank will add 672 and 400 people respectively.
The differentiation between the increase and decrease of employees shows the bank's "business downsizing" and business structure adjustment. To a certain extent, it also reflects the current trend of talent flow in the banking industry, such as active investment in financial technology and other aspects.
China Everbright Bank stated in its annual report that the bank is continuing to improve the effectiveness of technology input and output and strengthen the construction of its talent team. In 2024, the bank's technology investment will reach 6.573 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 758 million yuan, an increase of 13.04%, accounting for 4.85% of operating income. As of the end of 2024, the bank had 3,986 scientific and technical personnel, an increase of 301 from the previous year, accounting for 8.31% of the bank's employees.
The increase or decrease in personnel does not point to a single dimension. As of the end of 2024, Ping An Bank had a total of 41,011 employees, a decrease of 2,108 employees from the end of 2023. Among them, business personnel decreased by 2,191, management personnel decreased by 567, but professional and technical personnel increased by 650.
Per capita salary: CITIC is the highest
Employee compensation is also defined as "employee expenses" in some bank annual reports, which mainly covers wages, social security, provident funds, and other benefits.
In terms of total employee compensation in 2024, among the 9 A-share joint-stock banks, 4 banks, Zheshang Bank, Hua Xia Bank, China CITIC Bank, and China Everbright Bank, have all achieved positive growth, increasing by 1.237 billion yuan, 254 million yuan, 1.601 billion yuan, and 547 million yuan respectively compared with 2023.
Among them, China CITIC Bank increased to 39.684 billion yuan, becoming the bank with the largest increase among the nine A-share banks. This was mainly due to the increase in social insurance premiums and post-employment benefits-defined contribution plans, which amounted to 643 million yuan and 500 million yuan respectively.
The total employee compensation of China Merchants Bank and Ping An Bank has dropped significantly, with a year-on-year decrease of 2.26 billion yuan and 1.783 billion yuan respectively in 2024.
The reporter calculated the per-employee salary by dividing the total annual employee salary by the number of employees as of the end of 2024 and found that the per-employee salary of 9 joint-stock banks increased or decreased.
Currently, China CITIC Bank has the highest per capita salary of employees. Due to the adjustment of personnel structure, the bank's per capita salary rose to 606,200 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.50%; Hua Xia Bank's per capita salary increased by 6.65% to 421,900 yuan.
The per capita salary of China Merchants Bank, which had been ranked first for many years, dropped below 600,000 yuan. It is worth noting that employee salaries at China Merchants Bank have declined for two consecutive years. Specifically, in 2022, China Merchants Bank will have 113,000 employees, employee expenses will be 70.6 billion yuan, and the per capita cost will be 625,000 yuan. In 2023, China Merchants Bank will have 116,500 employees, employee expenses will be 70.35 billion yuan, and the per capita cost will be 604,000 yuan.
Executive compensation: Who has the most?
In 2024, the executive compensation of the nine A-share joint-stock banks will show the characteristics of "more decreases, more increases, and significant differentiation."
Currently, only four joint-stock banks have disclosed the remuneration of their chairman. Among them, Gao Yingxin, chairman of Minsheng Bank, received the highest pre-tax remuneration in 2024, reaching 3.3463 million yuan. Lu Jiajin, chairman of Industrial Bank, Lu Jianqiang, chairman of Zheshang Bank, and Zhang Weizhong, chairman of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, will receive pre-tax remuneration of 1.614 million yuan, 1.1436 million yuan, and 856,800 yuan respectively in 2024.
The salaries of the chairman of China Minsheng Bank and Industrial Bank have declined to varying degrees. In 2023, Minsheng Bank Chairman Gao Yingxin's pre-tax salary was 3.8908 million yuan, which means that in 2024, Gao Yingxin's pre-tax salary dropped by 10.41% year-on-year; Industrial Bank Chairman Lu Jiajin's pre-tax salary dropped by 4.11% year-on-year.
The remuneration of some bank chairmen has shown an increase. For example, the pre-tax salary of Lu Jianqiang, chairman of China Zheshang Bank, increased by 22.40% from 934,300 yuan in 2023 to 1.1436 million yuan.
Among the president’s salaries, Wang Liang, President of China Merchants Bank, received a salary of 2.9617 million yuan, a decrease of 491,500 yuan from 2023. This is closely related to the general environment of cost reduction and efficiency improvement in the banking industry, as well as policy orientations such as linking remuneration and risk in the financial industry and implementing a performance remuneration recovery and rebate system.
Ji Guangheng, president of Ping An Bank, will have a pre-tax salary of 4.1587 million yuan in 2024, the highest among presidents.
