2024.0402

Number of words in this article:2116, reading time is about 4 minutes

introduction：降薪、裁员成为银行“节衣缩食”的现实选择。

** Author| ** First Financial Android

With the disclosure of the annual reports of listed banks, the operating conditions of the banking industry last year are at a glance.

As of April 1, 21 listed banks in the A-share market have disclosed their 2023 annual reports, including 13 national commercial banks and 8 regional banks. In total, the operating income of 21 banks fell by 4% year-on-year. With the effect of back-feeding, the net profit attributable to the parent company barely increased slightly by 1.58%.

At the annual results conference, bank management generally mentioned the narrowing of current and future profit margins and countermeasures.

Pay cuts and layoffs have become a realistic choice for banks to "economize on food and clothing". First Finance and Economics statistics based on Wind data:Last year, the total salary of 13 national commercial banks was 869.668 billion yuan, an increase of only 2.32% compared with the same period in 2022. Compared with 5.85% in 2022, the growth rate also narrowed by more than 60%.

In terms of per capita salary, China Merchants Bank still ranks first, with 573,800 yuan, equivalent to an per capita monthly salary of 47,800 yuan, which is almost unchanged compared with the previous year. In 2021, China Merchants Bank's per capita monthly salary was once as high as 58,000 yuan.

"Universe Travel" has laid off a total of 42,500 people for seven consecutive years

In terms of employee numbers, Wind data shows that the total number of employees in 13 national commercial banks reached 2.2728 million, a year-on-year increase of about 32,000, an increase of 1.42%. Among them, the total number of employees of 5 banks decreased year-on-year, and 8 banks increased year-on-year.

ICBC made the most layoffs last year, with more than 8000 fewer people in 2023. In fact, since 2016, ICBC has continued to shrink the number of employees and institutions. Among them, the number of employees has shrunk from more than 460,000 at its peak to less than 420,000 in 2023, and 42,500 have been lost in seven years. It is estimated that the average annual layoffs are about 6000; the number of institutions has also been reduced from 17,200 in 2016 to 16,300 in 2023, with more than 900 fewer.

Industrial Bank has the highest number of layoffs. Last year, Industrial Bank lost 3271 employees, a drop of nearly 5%. In addition, Agricultural Bank and Ping An Bank both laid off more than a thousand people.

Agricultural Bank of China is also a major layoff in recent years. As of the end of 2023, Agricultural Bank had a total of 450,000 employees, 45,700 fewer than in 2016, equivalent to about 6500 layoffs every year.

In terms of staff additions, CITIC Bank had the largest number of staff additions last year. As of the end of 2023, CITIC Bank had a total of 66,900 employees of various types, an increase of 5788 compared with the end of 2022.

Although listed banks 'financial reports do not directly disclose the total employee compensation, the overall salary level can be roughly estimated based on the calculation of "cash paid to and for employees + ending balance of employee compensation payables-opening balance of employee compensation payables".

data shows:In 2023, the total salary of 13 listed banks will be 869.668 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.32%, and the growth rate will narrow by more than 60% compared with 2022. Since 2021, although the total compensation of listed banks has still maintained positive growth, the growth rate has continued to decline, and the decline will be particularly obvious in 2023.

Last year, among the 13 banks, only one listed bank was able to maintain double-digit growth in total salary. That is, Zheshang Bank's total salary increased by 14.72% year-on-year. In 2022, there will be three. In addition to Zheshang Bank, there will be Industrial Bank and China Merchants Bank.

In 2023, China Merchants Bank's total salary will only increase by 4.79% year-on-year. The total salary plates of China CITIC Bank, Industrial Bank, China Everbright Bank and Ping An Bank are even shrinking, which has never happened in the past. Among them, Ping An Bank's total compensation fell by 5.64% year-on-year, the largest decline.

It can be seen that with the net interest margin continuing to narrow and bank operating pressure significantly increasing, salary increases have become a "thing of the past."

CITIC Bank cuts salary by nearly 9%

In terms of per capita salary, there will be two major changes in 2023:First, the median growth rate of per capita salary is declining, especially for joint-stock banks that maintained high salaries in the past, which have reduced their salary significantly; second, although the salary level of state-owned banks is lower than that of joint-stock banks, it is more resilient, and even in the context of declining revenue, small growth can still be achieved.

Wind data shows:In 2023, the per capita salary of the above-mentioned 13 listed banks will be 382,600 yuan. Among them, China Merchants Bank will still have the highest per capita salary, at 573,800 yuan, equivalent to a monthly salary of 47,800 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.62%.

The second is Industrial Bank, with an annual per capita salary of 571,800 yuan, equivalent to a monthly salary of 47,700 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.55%. It is worth noting that in the past few years, Industrial Bank's per capita salary has not entered the top three, and its total salary in 2023 even dropped slightly by 0.34%. The significant increase in per capita salary is mainly due to the significant reduction in the number of employees last year.

CITIC Bank ranks third, with an annual per capita salary of 569,700 yuan, equivalent to a monthly salary of 47,500 yuan, a sharp drop of 8.77% year-on-year and a monthly salary of 4600 yuan. It is the bank with the largest decline in salary among the 13 banks. In the past two years, CITIC Bank's per capita salary has been among the best, comparable to China Merchants Bank. In 2022, it once surpassed China Merchants Bank, reaching 624,500 yuan per capita. Last year, CITIC Bank not only declined in total salary, but also increased the number of employees the most, resulting in a significant decline in the average.

The per capita monthly salary of state-owned banks is generally between 26,000 and 36,000 yuan. Among them, Bank of Communications has the highest annual per capita salary, reaching 435,700 yuan, equivalent to a monthly salary of 36,000 yuan; Postal Savings Bank has the lowest annual per capita salary, at 327,400 yuan, equivalent to a monthly salary of 27,000 yuan.

Judging from the salary growth rate, the growth rate of state-owned banks last year was significantly higher than that of joint-stock banks. On the one hand, the per capita salary of state-owned banks is low and has more room for improvement; on the other hand, in the current environment where interest margins continue to narrow, the development resilience of state-owned banks is more sufficient.

Last year, the per capita salary of Bank of China increased by 5.84% year-on-year, ranking first among the 13 banks; the per capita salary of Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Construction Bank increased by 3.09%, 2.07%, and 1.89% respectively year-on-year.

In fact, the average is only a reference value. Among the total bank salary, the directors, supervisors and senior management take a considerable part, and the salary of the remaining ordinary employees is lower than the average.

At the same time, what is more important for bankers is that not only is there no hope of a salary increase now, but even the performance salary you get may be recovered. Recently, with the successive release of annual reports of listed banks, many banks have disclosed relevant information on performance pay recovery and deductions in their annual reports.

For example, China Merchants Bank's annual report shows:During the reporting period, there were 4415 employees of China Merchants Bank who implemented performance salary recovery and deduction, with a total amount of performance salary recovery and deduction of 43.29 million yuan. Bank of China implemented recourse and deductions on a total of 2059 people, with a total amount of 22.75 million yuan.

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