Singapore Banks Reduce Hiring as Automation Reshapes Workforce

As part of a new era of banking, large banks in Singapore are reducing hiring activity and instead putting resources into technology, automation and developing existing talent. The accentuation on technologically-oriented services is the factor contributing to the decrease in employment as well as the careful hiring (especially positions that rely on digital transformation).

The most recent data on the number of bank employees resides in the statistics that showed that the total headcount in 15 leading banks in Singapore declined by 1.79% on a year-on-year basis in 2024, to roughly 54,000 employees. Other institutions have enlarged their workforce with special staff, whereas others have made tremendous cuts in their employees citing automation and changes in their mode of business.

The Bank of China experienced the greatest fall down, with an employee dismissal rate of about 13% representing 855 jobs lost. This shrinkage has been forthcoming as the bank tries to scale down processes in a bid to prepare to work in an environment where more optimism is placed on technology.

Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank on the contrary made marks with its growth to increase the number of its employees by 18 percent rising to 314 new workforce. The way that the bank intends to develop seems to be relationship based services and enhancement of technology.

OCBC Bank took the lead of UOB in total employees as it had 10,714 employees. Despite its net reduction of 225 workers, OCBC said the affected workers were reduced as a result of changes in customer expectations and automation. The bank itself has underlined that it has invested more than 80 million dollars in employee upskilling and job mobility programs since 2018. It has a current department that provides more than 29,000 training modules that can assist workers to stay current in the digital age.

Maybank Singapore, a division of the largest bank in Malaysia, was the second-best employer, having the highest rate of employing new people (113). The new positions are focused on the fields of cybersecurity, data analytics, digital banking, and compliance which are core components of the future strategy of the bank.

Technological change such as AI, cloud, and data science is no longer a peripheral aspect of our jobs in workforce planning anymore, according to Wong Keng Fye, the head of human capital at Maybank Singapore.

Other banks such as HSBC Singapore and RHB also react to customer demands of having customized digital banking services. HSBC also reported that it expanded its number of staff by 1.2 per cent to 3,990 and said that it was important that its staff were involved in relationship management and customer facing functions within its wealth management business. The bank wants to reposition itself in the Asian region as a major player in wealth management.

RHB Singapore prioritized recruiting in areas such as retail banking and wealth management with an emphasis on recruiting staff experienced in matters of compliance, risk, and digital process improvement. The bank is working on the internal development programs regarding automation, cloud systems, and sustainability.

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Recruitment specialists note a visible shift in hiring trends. Banks are not being aggressive in their expansions anymore, said Ken Ong, managing director, Morgan McKinley Singapore. Backfilling vacancies left due to resignations is even going at a slow pace. Two people leave, but only one gets replaced.”

Banks are increasingly employing contractual and project-based jobs as opposed to the permanent jobs to sideline those facing disciplinary problems. The method will provide cost management and flexibility under a weak economic environment, where growth indicators are also on a low scale.

Talents like relationship managers, cybersecurity specialists and data analysts are still sought after especially by mid-sized banks operating in Asia who are still adopting key strategic digital updates. Meanwhile, global banks are being cautious and slowing down the expansions and making leaner hiring practices.

There is as well an increase in the short-term contract issues as a trial period before full employment involvement, by the employer and employee. Ong further added, the workforce today likes to be flexible and exposed to various functions prior to entering a niche.

In addition to the technology and the digitalization, the geopolitical changes are also influencing the patterns of hiring. New avenues of employment are being opened with the opening up of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Some of the world financial institutions like HSBC, Bank of America and Maybank are also evaluating the possibility of relocating to the zone. Analysts opine that certain support services could be outsourced to them as a cost cutting venture.