Why thousands of bank employees lost their jobs

The wave of staff cuts in the banking industry began in 2024, when a series of banks from large to small such as BIDV, ACB , TPBank, Nam A Bank, KienlongBank... streamlined their apparatus. This trend continued to recur in the first quarter of this year, when many banks recorded a sharp decline in the size of their workforce.

Statistics from the first quarter financial reports of 27 listed banks show that the total number of employees in the industry as of March 31 was more than 277,000, a decrease of more than 2,100 people compared to the end of 2024.

Thousands of employees lost their jobs

In the first quarter of this year, LPBank was the bank with the strongest personnel change, reducing more than 1,600 employees, narrowing its scale to 9,570 employees.

However, streamlining the number of employees helped the average income of this bank's employees increase sharply from VND 22.8 million/person/month in the first quarter of 2024 to VND 24.6 million/person/month in the first quarter of this year. Notably, in 2024, LPBank stepped up recruitment, adding more than 560 employees, bringing the total to 11,189 people by the end of the year.

Sacombank is the second bank in terms of the level of cuts. According to its separate financial report, parent bank Sacombank cut 930 employees in the first quarter of this year, leaving about 16,128 people.

Explaining this development, Mr. Duong Cong Minh, Chairman of Sacombank's Board of Directors, said that the streamlining trend started last year and will continue this year and next. The bank will cut the workforce at traditional transaction offices while promoting digital transformation. Previously, Sacombank also reduced 354 employees in 2024.

VIB and TPBank are also among the banks that are reducing their workforce. Of which, VIB has reduced 476 employees in 2024, to 11,323 people. In the first quarter of this year, the bank continued to cut another 495 people, bringing the total number of employees to 10,828 people.

TPBank reduced its workforce by nearly 130 employees in the first quarter, to about 7,750 people. At the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM), Chairman Do Minh Phu said the bank is actively applying technology and artificial intelligence (AI), with the goal of streamlining 300-500 more employees, reducing operating costs and optimizing operational efficiency.

TPBank leaders said automation will replace simple job positions, helping employees focus on tasks that require higher creativity and added value.

At the end of the first quarter, TPBank had about 7,750 employees, meaning it had cut 130 people in the first 3 months of the year. Photo: Nam Khanh.

Some other banks also reduced their size but with smaller reductions such as ACB reducing 75 employees, SeABank reducing 25 employees and ABBank reducing 11 employees in the first quarter of the year.

In the group of state-owned banks, Vietcombank is the only unit that recorded a decrease in the number of employees at the beginning of this year, but the decrease was only 10 people, insignificant compared to the total size of 23,528 employees as of the end of March.

The common point of banks in this round of staff cuts is to focus on streamlining the middle level and inefficient units. At ABBank, Mr. Vu Van Tien, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, said that the bank is proactively restructuring the entire organization.

“It must be admitted that ABBank’s current model is still conservative and its operating efficiency is not high. The apparatus is large but not strong,” Mr. Tien shared.

As a result, banks have drastically streamlined their workforce, with some units reducing their workforce by 30-40%. The goal is to build a leaner, more efficient organization suited to the digital age, where one person can handle the workload that once required multiple people to complete.

“Recruitment methods have also changed. We only recruit people when there is a job, not when we recruit people and then look for jobs. Each task will come with specific responsibilities. ABBank must digitally transform and apply technology to optimize operational efficiency,” the bank leader emphasized.

Similarly, TPBank leaders also affirmed that this year's orientation is to promote technology and improve processes to streamline the middle level. The bank will review units with low productivity, handle weak personnel and at the same time improve the quality of new personnel.

Digital transformation is not about cutting staff

Although the trend of applying technology is happening in most banks, not all banks are cutting staff. Some banks still recorded continued expansion of staff in the first months of 2025.

Of which, the parent bank Techcombank recruited 305 more people, bringing the total number of employees to 11,282 in the first quarter of the year. Despite the increase in the workforce, Techcombank is still one of the banks that pay the highest salaries and incomes to employees in the system, with an average income of 42 million VND/person/month. However, compared to the same period last year, this average income has decreased by about 7 million VND/person.

Techcombank's leaders revealed that the bank's human resources structure is shifting strongly, with about 14% working in the fields of IT, data and digitalization.

MB leaders confirmed that there is still a need to expand the number of employees. Photo: MB.

Similarly, the Military Bank (MB) also has plans to expand its human resources. At the recent 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, Chairman Luu Trung Thai said that within the next 3 years, MB plans to increase its human resources by 25-35%, corresponding to preparing resources to be ready to operate at a scale 2.5 times larger than the current one.

“I believe it can still be done using technology alone, but as a precaution, this year MB will recruit about 1,000 more people, mainly for the business and technology sectors. Next year, the recruitment speed will slow down,” said Mr. Thai.

In particular, MB Vice President Vu Thanh Trung emphasized that the bank did not transform digitally to cut staff, but to increase labor productivity. Digital transformation helps simplify processes, so employees can focus on jobs that bring higher value.

Several other private banks such as Eximbank, OCB, HDBank and VPBank also have plans to streamline their apparatus this year, but in reality, these banks still recruited 100-200 new employees in the first quarter of the year.

In the state-owned group, BIDV is the bank with the largest recruitment scale with 254 new employees in the first quarter, bringing the total to 26,323. This comes right after the bank cut more than 1,100 employees in 2024. Another representative in the Big 4 group, VietinBank, also recorded an increase of 183 employees in the first quarter of 2025.

Shifting banking human resource needs

In the long term, many bank leaders estimate that the trend of streamlining the apparatus may last until at least 2030. However, positions related to technology, data, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will continue to be prioritized for recruitment.

Particularly for the group of traders, recruitment standards have also been significantly raised. These positions not only undertake data entry or transaction processing tasks as before, but also take on the role of cross-selling products, digital technology consulting and supporting customers to optimize cash flow, similar to a personal financial consultant.

Mr. Dinh Duc Quang - Director of Currency Trading Division, UOB Vietnam Bank - commented that many traditional positions in the bank are gradually being automated.

Previously, the account opening support department needed up to 10 people to process documents, approve, and enter data. Now, customers can do it themselves through digital banking applications, so this department only needs 2-3 people. Streamlining staff is inevitable in the context of rapid technological transformation.

He also said that when banks cut staff in operations and administration departments, recruitment needs will shift to direct business, consulting and product sales positions.

Manual, repetitive tasks will gradually be replaced by automation technology. However, positions that require communication skills, the ability to connect and persuade customers are still areas where humans play an irreplaceable role.

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/vi-sao-hang-nghin-nhan-vien-ngan-hang-mat-viec-post287308.html