At the end of the first quarter, 64,639 people worked in banking, compared with 65,772 at the end of 2011. Almost 2,300 employees left banking in the last 12 months.
Since the start of the financial crisis in Romania at the end of 2008, local commercial banks lost slightly over 10% of their personnel, or 7,253 employees, from a staff size of 71,622 before the crisis.
In the first quarter of the year, the average pre-tax salary in the banking system ranged between 4,651 and 5,351 lei (EUR1047-1204), while the net average salary ranged from RON3,294 to RON3,830.
The 41 banks on the market spent almost RON1 billion on salaries, of which more than RON270 million went to the general consolidated budget. Data on the first quarter indicates labor costs will reach almost RON1 billion this year.
Romanian banks reported combined net profit of RON165 million (under IFRS) in the first quarter, lower on the year, hurt by rising provisions. Net profit per employee stood at RON3, compared with RON61.44 per year in 2008 or RON12.02 for the entire year 2009. In 2010 and 2011, the local banking system posted losses.
Romania’s network of banks shrunk by 75 units in the quarter, to fewer than 6,000 units, and by 571 units compared with December 2008. (EUR1=RON4.4408)