The large Ibex banks, with the exception of Unicaja, once again created jobs in the first half of the year. In this way, the banks consider the adjustment processes that they carried out in the last decade through Employment Regulation Files (ERE) and early retirements to have ended, and which led to the departure of almost 100,000 workers, according to some calculations. The most recent were made after the pandemic. The digitization that they are carrying out, with the need to hire new professional profiles from the world of technology, is driving this job creation.
In the last twelve months, the net job creation of the Ibex 35 banks, led by BBVA, Santander, Sabadell and Bankinter, amounted to 1,748, after having expanded the workforce by 2,732 new workers, compared to the departures of 984 registered in This period comes from Caixabank and Unicaja Banco.
Banco Santander is one of the entities that has been recovering employment for two years since it closed the first half of the year with 407 more workers in Spain compared to June 2022. The entity has 26,779 employees in Spain, according to data collected in your financial report. The bank chaired by Ana Botín resumed the path of job creation in June 2022, by incorporating 120 hires, which allowed it to go from 26,152 employees in June 2021 to 26,272 the following year, after having registered just over 1,100 departures in the previous twelve months.
The digital transformation that the bank is carrying out translates into the search for a type of employee related to IT. Currently, it has published almost 500 vacancies aimed precisely at that profile of workers. BBVA also plans to go to the workforce in this area. As reported by the bank, it will incorporate 1,000 technological employees in Spain throughout this year.
At BBVA, the recovery in employment has taken place in the last year, but it has been the strongest of all the Ibex banks. It must also be taken into account that the bank chaired by Carlos Torres came from an ERE with 3,800 exits. Thus, from June 2021 to June 2022, the bank slimmed down its structure by 3,678 workers, while for the last twelve months it has increased it by 1,769 employees, 7% more.
Banco Sabadell’s workforce has also recovered in the last year after the entity headed by César González-Bueno approved an ERE in 2020 that affected 1,800 people. The bank closed the first half of 2021 with 15,117 employees and twelve months later it stood at 13,380. However, in the last twelve months, at the end of June 2023, the number of employees has been threatened by 407. At the beginning of the year, the bank announced the hiring of 115 new Growth Business directors to reinforce its offices. A decision is part of the second edition of Banco Sabadell’s “attraction of young talent” program, the Banking Sales Programme, aimed at young people under 30, the bank said.
In all the tangle of ERES and early retirements, Bankinter would be the exception, since it is the only bank that has not laid off workers and that has been reinforcing its workforce with more or less intensity depending on the year. In the last 24 months, the number of workers has increased to 6,460 employees. From June 2023 to June 2022, there were 149, while from June 2022 to June 2021, 219 new additions were made. In addition, the bank has decided to pay the bonus for objectives this year on a semi-annual basis.
Caixabank and Unicaja Banco, two sides of the same coin
Caixabank, which has the largest workforce in Spain with 44,683 workers, once again created employment in the last six months. The bank launched in 2021 the largest adjustment of workers in the sector in 2021 Thus, compared to December, the bank increased its workforce by 58 employees, although in year-on-year terms it reflects a drop in the number of employees.
However, as of June 2023, it had 44,683 workers, 339 fewer employees than at the end of the first semester of 2022, but the great adjustment occurred from 2021, since this is the difference between these two Years Ascends To 5,079 Employees.
Finally, Unicaja Banco has been the only bank that has not increased its workforce in the last six months or twelve months. This is because the entity is still immersed in the ERE. The Malaga-based bank agreed in 2021 with the unions for the departure of 1,500 workers. The entity has already executed 90%. However, in the presentation with analysts for the first quarter they left the doors open to a new adjustment. In total, the bank has gone from 8,799 workers at the end of the first half of 2021 to 7,692 this June, 1,107 fewer workers.
