First-quarter 2026 financial reports from 28 listed commercial banks show that the sector shed more than 3,000 employees in just the first three months of the year.

Notably, Sacombank alone cut 2,570 jobs, accounting for nearly 85% of the total reduction across the surveyed group.

Data shows that as of March 31, 2026, the 28 listed banks employed a combined 238,390 staff members, down 3,026 people compared to December 31, 2025.

The figure excludes Agribank, PVcomBank, SCB, and four banks currently under compulsory transfer arrangements.

A total of 14 out of the 28 banks reported workforce declines during the first quarter, while 13 banks expanded hiring and one lender, BaoViet Bank, recorded no change in staff numbers.

Sacombank carried out the most aggressive workforce reduction in the first quarter, cutting 2,570 employees and bringing its total headcount down to 13,281 as of March 31, 2026.

The bank alone represented nearly 85% of all job cuts among the 28 lenders during the quarter.

No other bank reduced more than 1,000 employees.

Among the lenders with the sharpest declines after Sacombank were BIDV, TPBank, Eximbank and VIB, though each reduced staffing by just over 200 employees.

Specifically, BIDV cut 279 positions, TPBank reduced 226 employees, Eximbank cut 222 jobs, while VIB reduced its workforce by 217 people.

KienlongBank and VietinBank reduced headcount by 150 and 135 employees respectively.

The remaining banks in the group of 14 lenders all cut fewer than 100 employees.

On the other hand, VPBank recorded the largest increase in staffing during the first quarter, adding 362 employees.

However, the increase remained modest compared to the bank’s total workforce of 17,916 employees as of March 31.

With a workforce of more than 11,600 employees, Techcombank added 176 staff compared to the end of last year, ranking second in the system for net hiring growth.

After a year of aggressive workforce streamlining, LPBank returned to hiring in the first quarter of 2026, adding 142 employees and bringing total staff numbers to 9,739.

LPBank and Sacombank were the two banks that cut the largest number of employees in 2025, particularly during the first quarter of that year.

However, after a year of restructuring, LPBank is no longer among the banks with workforces exceeding 10,000 employees.

The lender now employs 9,739 staff members.

Under Chairman Nguyen Duc Thuy, the bank’s workforce had previously exceeded 12,000 employees.

Other banks that reported slight workforce increases during the first quarter included ABBank, MSB, HDBank, MB, OCB, Nam A Bank, PGBank, SHB, Vietcombank and BVBank.

In terms of workforce scale as of March 31, 2026, state-controlled banks continued to dominate the sector.

BIDV employed 26,000 people, Vietcombank had 22,663 staff, while VietinBank employed 22,153 people.

Agribank, meanwhile, has around 40,000 employees.

Among private joint-stock commercial banks, VPBank led the sector with 17,916 employees.

Despite its aggressive downsizing, Sacombank still ranked second with 13,281 employees.

Other banks among the largest employers included MB with 13,082 staff, ACB with 12,475 employees, Techcombank with 11,638 employees, and HDBank with 10,494 employees.

All remaining banks employed fewer than 10,000 staff members.

The group of banks with fewer than 2,000 employees included PGBank, Viet A Bank, BaoViet Bank and Saigonbank.

Employee numbers at joint-stock commercial banks as of March 31, 2026

Tuan Nguyen