Automation stalls hiring at Singapore's top banks

Lenders are also upskilling to keep up with tech.

- SINGAPORE

The headcount at Singaporean banks either fell or rose by only a single digit last year, as some lenders cut jobs due to automation, whilst others limited hiring to positions like relationship managers and tech experts.

The fifteen banks included in this year's edition of the bank ranking survey collectively employed about 54,000 people by end-2024, marking a 1.79% decline from a year earlier.

Bank of China posted the biggest decline at 13% or 855 workers. On the other hand, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank added 314 employees to 2,000, 18% more than a year earlier.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Ltd. (OCBC) swept past United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) to take the second spot, with 10,714 workers. UOB had about 600 fewer people on its payroll, compared with OCBC losing 225 workers.

OCBC attributed the reduction in jobs to changing customer expectations and technologies.

"From 2018 to 2025, we have committed over $80m towards employee development and mobility," Ernest Phang, managing director for group human resources at OCBC, told Asian Banking & Finance.

This includes growth and job mobility opportunities for its employees, apart from reskilling and upskilling programmes.

"Currently, we offer more than 29,000 programmes across OCBC," he said.

Like OCBC, Maybank Singapore said that it "remains a strong advocate for grooming internal talent."

"We anticipate more focused recruitment in business lines tied to digital transformation, data analytics, cybersecurity, customer experience innovation, compliance, wealth management, and global banking," according to Wong Keng Fye, head of human capital at the bank.

The bank, whose parent Malayan Banking Berhad is Malaysia’s biggest bank by assets, added 113 workers to 2,277, the second-fastest increase after Credit Agricole.