(ECNS) -- A drop in staff members has hit a number of listed banks in China amid banks' efforts to save costs, reported China Business Daily.
Among 16 banks listed in A-shares markets, 10 have reported a headcount drop, involving the loss of 35,000 employees. This marks the biggest scale of employee departure ever recorded in China's banking sector.
According to semi-annual reports of the banks, the main reasons behind the decreased numbers include dropping salaries, employee job-hopping, a bank's control of management costs, and an increasing use of e-banking.
Liu, who quit his position as a regional bank chief, said the banking sector enjoyed high salaries in the past few years. But now the trend is to lower the payroll due to a sluggish economy, dropping industrial profit growth and the nation's call to close the income gap.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and China Construction Bank (CCB), reduced their salary expenses by 1.6 percent, 2.9 percent, and 2.18 percent respectively.
ICBC also lost 7,635 employees compared with last year, followed by CCB with 6,721 and ABC with 4,023
The joint-stock China Merchants Bank lost 7,768 employees in the first half of the year.
China Minsheng Bank recorded the largest amount in salary cuts, from 11.2 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) a year earlier to 8.74 billion yuan, a decrease of 22.06 percent. The bank also cut management costs by 14.62 percent.
