HKMA and banks to equip staff with new skills, as 9,000 jobs are in peril due to digitalisation
- About 9 per cent of the nearly 100,000 bank employees in Hong Kong are likely to lose their jobs over the next three to five years because of branch closures
- People with skills in wealth management, green finance and digital banking are likely to be in demand, HKMA deputy CEO Arthur Yuen says
A recent study conducted by the HKMA and banks showed that about 9 per cent of the about 100,000 front line and back office staff at bank branches in the city will lose their jobs in the next three to five years, said Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang deputy chief executive of the HKMA.
“Banks have been cutting down their branch network due to the changes in customer behaviour in recent years,” Yuen told a media briefing last week. “The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend as the outbreak has encouraged more customers to shift to using digital banking services instead of going to physical bank branches.”
This has led banks to shut down some branches or change the design of their branches to offer more than just counter services for deposits and withdrawals, such as wealth management and other more sophisticated banking services.
