Since 2018, the banking sector has lost an average of 0.77 % of its workforce each year and only the year 2023 was marked by a slight increase in the number of employees, by 0.2 %. This overall decrease in enrollment last year was caused by a more marked drop (-1.7 %) of the workforce of commercial banks, such as BNP Paribas or Société Générale for example, which are gathered with other banks installed in France within the French Association of Banks (AFB).
The trend is less felt for mutual banks (Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Epargne, Crédit Agricole and Crédit Mutuel), members of the FBF alongside the member banks member of the AFB.
At the sector level in France, hiring also decreased last year for the second consecutive year, down almost 13.5 %, to stand at 38,600 in the year 2024. The current year and the following are likely not to change the trend, several players in the sector still reducing their network of agencies, and therefore their workforce, against the background of attendance.
Post deletions
The CCF, which has taken over the HSBC retail bank network in France, plans to close 72 of its 238 agencies by the end of 2026, which will result in the dismissal of more than a thousand of its 3,200 employees. For its part, BNP Paribas plans to accelerate the pace of agency closings and reduce its workforce by 2.2 % to 2.5 % per year on average between 2026 and 2030, without a departure plan.
