By late March, LPBank’s staff had declined to 9,570, a sharp drop of 1,619 from the beginning of the year. This helped reduce the bank’s personnel costs by 8 per year compared to the same period last year to VND732 billion (USD28.8 million).
Sacombank cut 970 jobs during the period, bringing its workforce to 17,118. The bank also cut more than 500 employees in 2024.
At a recent shareholders’ meeting, Sacombank’s leaders said that the bank will continue narrowing its workforce in the 2025-2026 phase, focusing on improving staff quality rather than increasing numbers.
A wave of staff cuts and streamlining has continued at many Vietnamese big banks (Photo by Tien Tuan)
Since 2024, VIB has downsized its workforce by nearly 1,000 employees, bringing the total down to 10,828. Meanwhile, BIDV reduced its staff by about 1,000 last year to 28,998. Similar cutbacks have also been reported on a smaller scale at banks such as TPBank, Nam A Bank, ABBank, and Kienlong Bank.
According to Chau Dinh Linh, a lecturer from the HCM City University of Banking, this is an inevitable trend in the banking sector. Simple and repetitive tasks are increasingly being replaced by technology, fuelled by advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated systems.
Dinh Duc Quang, Head of Treasury and Markets at UOB Vietnam, said many traditional banking jobs are gradually being automated. For example, account opening used to require up to 10 counter staff, but now, with digital banking apps allowing customers to open accounts themselves, only 2-3 staff are required for this process.
Quang added that as banks cut 50-70 staff in operations and administrative roles, recruitment demand will shift toward direct business positions like sales, consulting, and customer engagement.
