① Judging from Ping An Bank's friend's question, they should be preparing to “find the next home” or receiving an invitation from a financial headhunter. ② During the 2023 results conference, Governor Ji Guangheng said that the current structural reforms can only be described as showing initial results. ③ Being able to absorb some of the talents spillover from the peace reform process is actually also a good opportunity.
Financial Services Association, April 10 (Reporter Liang Kezhi) Today, a number of stock banks and urban commercial bankers told the Financial Federation that they have recently received inquiries from Ping An Bank friends hoping to learn more about the bank's development plans and internal business, assessment, and salary situation. The identity of the inquirer was not limited to department heads, but also senior employees.
One of the urban commercial bankers believes that judging from Ping An Bank's friend's question, they should be preparing to “find a new home” or receive an invitation from a financial headhunter.
Earlier, on April 8, a number of people familiar with the matter confirmed to the Financial Federation reporter that Tang Jiacai, the current assistant to the governor and chief information officer of Ping An Bank, has recently proposed his resignation, and the relevant separation process is in progress. One of the people familiar with the matter judged that in the next step, some middle level cadres should leave their jobs.
Regarding the current round of structural reforms, which began in 2023, Governor Ji Guangheng said during the performance conference on March 15 that the current structural reform can only be said to have seen initial results. The head office has changed quite clearly and efficiency has improved; the branch still needs a process from appearance to appearance, and it is expected that it will take 1-2 years to improve comprehensive capabilities.
The “head office leader” transformed into a branch to find opportunities
At the 2023 results conference, in addition to Party Secretary and Governor Ji Guangheng, the executives attending also included Vice Governor Yang Zhiqun, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Xiang Youzhi, Assistant Governor Zhang Zhaohui, and Wu Leiming. The new executive team was basically formed.
However, after the general branch structure was settled, the accompanying departmental reforms and personnel changes seemed to continue.
According to media reports, Ping An Bank's head office department was reduced from the previous 43 to 32, and the division and retail sales promotion department were abolished. At the beginning of the year, Ping An Bank's original six major industry divisions, including real estate, green finance, infrastructure, automotive ecology, electronic information and intelligent manufacturing, healthcare, cultural tourism, etc., were merged into a newly established strategic customer department.
At the beginning of April, a person familiar with Ping An Bank's reform told the Financial Association reporter that during the process of division withdrawal and reform, many division general managers and deputy general managers became “light pole commanders” and were basically placed in the strategic customer department, awaiting distribution and opportunities.
The source said that the statement at the time was that you could go to a branch or find your own way out. However, most of these A-level cadres are good at integrating resources and marketing in large cities, and the positions of branch managers are limited, so if they go to small and medium branches, they are worried that they will not be able to adapt and develop. Therefore, they can only show their talents; leaving the job is the last option.
According to regulatory information, on January 4, Chen Zhijing was approved for the position of Assistant Governor of Ping An Bank Lanzhou Branch. Chen Zhijing was the former head of remote business in the basic retail department of the head office.
On March 6, the Zhejiang Regulatory Bureau of the State Financial Supervisory Administration approved Li Yue's qualification as head of the Hangzhou branch of Ping An Bank. Li Yue was previously co-president of Ping An Bank's Inclusive Finance Division and Secretary General of the Innovation Committee of the Head Office. He hosted the successful launch of “Ping An 1” (the 08 stars of the Apocalypse constellation). “Ping An 1” is the first IoT satellite jointly launched by financial institutions in China for financial services.
Some of the cadres also chose to leave their jobs. For example, Li Qian, the former president of Ping An Bank's Healthcare, Culture and Tourism Finance Division, has joined Huaxing Bank to assist Assistant Governor Duan Xin in handling business.
Departmental departments at the head office were adjusted, and personnel continued to move forward
Ping An Bank stated in its 2023 annual report that after this structural reform, “the head office streamlined the structure, simplified and decentralized administration, optimized mechanisms, improved efficiency, enhanced service capabilities, and transformed into a “service-oriented and enabling” organization.
The stock bank that was consulted mentioned above told the Financial Federation that they learned from the Ping An Bank source who inquired that after the head office structure is settled, internal department adjustments are currently being made in the head office department, which has had an impact on the department's cadres and employees to varying degrees. As a result, some employees are considering alternative solutions.
A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that in the past four years of annual reports, there has been no significant decrease in the total number of Ping An Bank employees.
According to the annual report, Ping An Bank's total number of employees at the end of 2023, the end of 2022, the end of 2021, and the end of 2020 was 43119, 44,207, 40651, and 38097, respectively. At the end of 2023 after the launch of the structure, the number of employees decreased by 1,088 over the last four years.
It is worth noting that the total number of banks in 2023, 2022, and 2021 was 7746, 6643, and 6692, respectively, and there was no significant decrease.
However, the aforementioned urban commercial bank source told the Finance Association reporter that Ping An Bank still has quite a few talents in its business and market line. Compared to the bank, it is actually a good opportunity to absorb some of the talents spillover from Ping An's reform process.