(Yicai) Sept. 14 -- Commercial banks in China kicked off their annual campus recruitment campaigns this month, with the number of available positions continuing to decline, while interdisciplinary tech talent remains highly sought-after.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China plan to hire around 64,000 graduates during the latest campus recruitment, according to their recruitment announcements. In comparison, the “Big Four” state-owned commercial banks hired 71,500 graduates last year and 77,600 in 2024.

Along with shrinking recruitment goals, the banking sector is also trimming its overall workforce. Six large state-owned banks cut more than 30,000 employees over the first six months of this year, accounting for most of the workforce reduction among listed banks, according to figures from Wind Information.

The number of employees at the Agricultural Bank of China dropped by 10,900 to 446,900 in the period, while that at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China fell by more than 7,200 to 402,500 workers.

Regarding tech talent demand, many lenders are focusing on recruiting interdisciplinary talent that understands both technical principles and banking workflows, and can translate technological capabilities into business value.

For example, China Merchants Bank is hiring intelligent science research and development professionals who will conduct algorithm research and system development for artificial intelligence and large language models, seeking interdisciplinary candidates “versed in AI and banking business”. For system development, it wants talent “with expertise in IT and banking operations”.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev