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Asian banks on hiring spree since 2008 crisis as Europeans cut headcount

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Asian banks on hiring spree since 2008 crisis as Europeans cut headcount

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This article is part of a series tracking the evolution of key bank metrics since the financial crisis.

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The biggest banks in the world have increased their aggregate staff headcount since the 2008 global financial crisis, largely driven by hiring sprees at China-based lenders, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.

The aggregate number of people employed by large Chinese banks increased by more than 500,000 between 2008 and 2016. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp. and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the country's four largest lenders, accounted for nearly half of that increase.

The sample comprises banks featured in S&P Global Market Intelligence's list of the world's 100 biggest banks by assets for which headcount data was available. The figures are based on bank headquarters location and not the geographic location of employees.

Most other large banks in the Asia-Pacific region have also increased their headcount over the period, with those in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan boosting their aggregate workforce by more than 100,000. National Australia Bank Ltd. is the only lender in region with fewer staff in 2016 than it had in 2008.

But it is not just Asian banks that are increasing their staff numbers in the region.

"Western banks are also looking to increase the size of their business [in Asia] because they believe that, longer term, the biggest opportunity for revenue growth is in the Asian markets," Paul Venables, CFO at London-headquartered recruitment specialist Hays Plc, told S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Switzerland-based Credit Suisse Group AG, for example, has a special focus on growth in Asia, while Natixis, a unit of France's Groupe BPCE, recently unveiled plans to increase its employee count in the region in a bid to boost revenues there.

"There's a global push [toward] less headcount in more developed parts of the world, and increased headcount across Asia," Venables said.

Diverging trends

Staff increases at banks in Asia-Pacific have offset large reductions at Europe-based lenders, which have gradually cut jobs as margin pressure and technological advances drive them to reduce costs and seek greater efficiencies. Nordea Bank AB (publ), the biggest bank in the Nordic region, said in October that it is cutting 6,000 jobs as it seeks to invest in digital opportunities. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Plc reduced their collective headcount by more than 230,000 between 2008 and 2016.

"There's much greater cost-control focus going on within the U.K. and European banks at the moment that have led to some job cuts. And I think it's because their profitability is lower than it was, five or 10 years ago," Venables said, adding that back-office roles were more impacted by digitization as banks increasingly pursue automation.

Meanwhile, employee headcount at big North America-headquartered banks has remained relatively stable over the years following the financial crash. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. employed some 130,000 fewer people last year than they did in 2008, but an increase from peers such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., U.S. Bancorp and Capital One Financial Corp. offset those reductions.

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