Chinese banks begin campus hiring to boost employment, 3 major lenders will induct over 40,000: Report

Banks in China have ramped up hiring despite shrinking earnings and increasing bad debts. Four of the biggest banks in China have started their autumn campus hiring in August, instead of November.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank Corporation, Bank of China Co and Agricultural Bank of China are the leading banks that have started hiring in a bid to boost employment in China, Bloomberg reported.

Companies and factories in China were brought to a standstill after the coronavirus outbreak swept through the country in January. Many lost their jobs or had their pay slashed.

While ICBC plans to hire 18,000 graduates in 2020, China Construction Bank will induct 16,000 individuals, the report said, adding that Bank of China will increase hiring by 15 percent to over 10,000.

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Agricultural Bank of China has already hired 4,500 individuals during the spring round, it said.

"Even though the big banks are facing pressure on their own earnings, they still need people to develop the business. Also, it is important for them to assume social responsibility," said Tang Jianwei, a Shanghai-based analyst at Bank of Communications Co’s research institute, as per the report.

Representatives for ICBC, AgBank, Construction Bank and Bank of China declined to comment, the report added.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Beijing has been leaning on banks to boost the economy. China's central bank cut its benchmark lending rates by 25 basis points to 5.1 percent in May in a bid to lower borrowing costs and support the slowing economy.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) also reduced one-year benchmark deposit rates by 25 bps. The central bank said the move would support the healthy development of the economy.

While China's economy shrank 6.8 percent in the first quarter, its first quarterly contraction in decades, it bounced back in the second quarter by posting a 3.2 percent growth.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 3.2 percent YoY in the second quarter of 2020, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The data showed that China's job market had also improved slightly in June, with the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas standing at 5.7 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.

Also read: Chinese economy bounces back; expands 3.2% as coronavirus curbs lifted

China's surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 5.7 percent in June, 0.2 percentage points lower than that of May, the data said. A total of 5.64 million new urban jobs were created in the first half of 2020, completing 62.7 percent of the annual target, it said.