Bank Headcounts Rise With Tech Talent Boosting Numbers

Banking staff at Singapore’s 18 largest commercial banks grew 5.47% in the last two years, with the growth spurred by digitisation initiatives.

The search for tech talent has boosted the workforce numbers of Singapore’s banks. With MAS officially joining the virtual banking race, and each bank requiring hundreds of mainly tech-related new hires, this trend is only likely to accelerate over 2020. Overall banking staff employed at Singapore’s 18 largest commercial banks grew 5.47% in the two years since our last survey, from 58,409 to 61,604. DBS retained the top position with 11,693 employees as of end-March, up from 10,460 in 2017. UOB followed in second place with over 9,000 employees and Citi rounded out the top three with a 9,000-strong workforce.

OCBC and HSBC came in at 4th and 5th place with 6,700 and 3,391 employees, respectively. Overall, the banks in the list have a total of around 61,604 staff in Q1 2019, from 58,409 in 2017.

Virtual banking race

With five new virtual banking licenses to be awarded, the battle for tech talent will only grow fiercer.

Months after Hong Kong granted eight virtual banking licenses, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that it will grant two digital full bank licenses and three digital wholesale bank licenses that will cater to SMEs.

With licenses that are expected to be handed out by mid-2020, digital banks can open for business a year later. However, they are only limited to receiving $50m of deposits with $75,000 per account. Its potential customer base is also limited to business partners, staff, related parties and selected customers.

What this means, according to Maybank Kim Eng’s analyst Thilan Wickramasinghe, is that underserved segments such as the youth and new startups/SMEs are likely to find better access to financial products. “Traditional banking has generally focused on large, established businesses which require less risk capital deployment,” he said.