Online salary cut turmoil: Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's "family letter is worth 10,000 dollars", and some banks deduct festival fees?
Approaching the Spring Festival, some banks were suspected of being exposed by employees for wage arrears and suspension of year-end bonuses, and related entries rushed to the hot search before the holiday. On February 7, a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society called Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Bank of Shanghai and Bank of Guangzhou in the turmoil, and some of them replied that the relevant information was pending a follow-up statement.
From the perspective of performance, the performance of the above-mentioned banks has declined, and some banks have frequent personnel changes. According to the analysis of industry experts, the banking industry as a whole will be under pressure in 2023, and 2024 will still be a year of opportunities and challenges for the banking industry.
Some banks were exposed to suspected salary arrears and stopped issuing year-end bonuses
"In the entire credit card center of Bank of Guangzhou, whether it is an employee, a contract worker or an outsourced employee, the salary in December 2023 will only be paid 30%-60% according to different ranks, and the salary for December should have been paid on January 20, but it was delayed until the night of February 6, and I only have 60% of the salary I should have. We asked when the remaining 40% would be sent, and the leader said 'I don't know'. On February 7, an employee who claimed to be the credit card center of the Bank of Guangzhou told a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Agency.
Screenshot of social media platforms.
On social media platforms, the entry "Bank of Guangzhou arrears of wages" rushed to the hot search on the evening of February 6. Under this topic, some netizens posted that the credit card center of Bank of Guangzhou delinquent and deducted the wages of all employees, including pregnant and lactating employees, and announced the suspension of year-end bonuses. "In 2022, two days before the Chinese New Year, everyone said that they would not pay the year-end bonus, and everyone was silent and endured; in 2023, the salary management method will be changed and the 13th salary will be cancelled; at the beginning of 2023, the salary will be reduced by 30%, and now it will not be paid. ”
On the afternoon of February 7, a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society called the relevant staff of the Bank of Guangzhou, and the other party said that the relevant information is still being further verified, and if there is an update, the bank will update it simultaneously.
In addition to the Bank of Guangzhou, other banks have also been exposed to similar situations. On February 7, some netizens posted that the year-end bonus of Bank of Shanghai in 2023 is 7,000 yuan, but this year's actual year-end bonus is zero, and the festival fee and salary are also deducted. According to the screenshot of the online circulation, an internal email of the company shows that a branch of the Bank of Shanghai requires to follow the principle of performance orientation, "all units should strengthen the application of the annual appraisal results of employees in the performance distribution, reasonably determine the performance distribution gap according to the assessment results, reflect the positive correlation between the assessment and the distribution, and prevent free riding." In addition, if there is no change in the employee's position, if the appraisal decreases compared with the previous year, the income should also decrease accordingly."
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is also suspected of being complained by employees and ridiculed as "a letter from home is worth 10,000 dollars". Previously, the reporter learned that the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank issued a letter to the families of employees in the name of the Party Committee of the head office, in addition to expressing blessings and thanks to the families of employees, it will also issue a condolence payment according to the standard of 2,000 yuan per person after tax, and some employees speculated that "a letter to the family" was used to replace the year-end bonus.
On the afternoon of February 7, a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society called Shanghai Pudong Development Bank as an investor, and a staff member of the bank responded that there are many branches of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and each institution may have different arrangements, and relevant information needs to wait for follow-up statements.
Lu Min, a lawyer at Guangdong Guoying Law Firm, told the reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Agency: "From the legal level, there is no obligation for enterprises to issue year-end bonuses, and year-end bonuses are rewards given to employees by enterprises in combination with their own production and operation conditions, and there are two situations: one is that the enterprise agrees to issue year-end bonuses in recruitment information or labor contracts, and the other is that the business conditions of the enterprises are good, and the enterprises promise to pay year-end bonuses to employees. For example, in an enterprise in Guangdong, according to Article 12 of the Regulations of Guangdong Province on the Payment of Wages, the employer shall pay the wages of the employee on the agreed date, and in the case of a statutory holiday or rest day, the employer shall pay the wages on the nearest working day in advance. Failure to pay wages is considered non-payment. ”
Lu Min also said that if the unit involved does only pay 30%-60% of the salary, it is also an act of non-payment of wages.
The performance of the three banks was under pressure due to declining performance and frequent personnel changes
What is the operating condition of the banks that have been caught up in the turmoil of arrears of wages and the suspension of the issuance of year-end bonuses? The reporter of the Nandu Bay Finance Society sorted out and found that the results recently announced by the above-mentioned three banks are not optimistic.
Bank of Shanghai's performance is declining. Bank of Shanghai, known as the "king of consumer loans" of urban commercial banks, is currently suffering from "consumer loans". Personal consumption loans once became the "trump card" of Bank of Shanghai's retail business, but the problem of rising non-performing rates also followed. After the reduction of the scale of consumer loans, it is difficult to build new business growth points in a short period of time.
According to the performance report for the third quarter of 2023, as of the end of September, the total assets of Bank of Shanghai reached 3,059.114 billion yuan, an increase of 6.27% from the end of the previous year, the operating income was 39.273 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.76%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 17.345 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 1.03%. This is the fourth consecutive earnings season in which Bank of Shanghai has experienced a decline in revenue.
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has always been known as the "king of the public", but now it is facing multiple challenges such as operation, net profit decline, market value decline and asset quality pressure. In recent years, the growth rate of total assets of SPD Bank has been slow, and the gap between SPD Bank and the top joint-stock banks has gradually widened.
According to the latest public third quarter report of 2023, in the first three quarters of 2023, SPD Bank achieved operating income of 132.815 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 10.865 billion yuan, a decrease of 7.56%, a total profit of 31.803 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 13.661 billion yuan, a decrease of 30.05%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company after tax of 27.986 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.476 billion yuan, a decrease of 30.83%.
It is also worth noting that there have been senior management changes at both banks since last year.
On September 8, 2023, SPD Bank issued a number of announcements involving senior management personnel changes. According to the announcement, Zheng Yang resigned from the company's chairman of the board of directors and other posts due to work transfers, and Pan Weidong resigned from the company's vice chairman and other positions.
At the same time, the board of directors of SPD Bank agreed to nominate Zhang Weizhong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Company, and Zhao Wanbing, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, as candidates for directors of the Company, and agreed to appoint Kang Jie as the Vice President of the Company.
On November 17, 2023, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank announced that it agreed to elect Zhang Weizhong as the chairman of the company.
In terms of Bank of Shanghai, on November 24, 2023, the WeChat official account "Shanghai Release" announced that Zhu Jian, president, deputy secretary of the Party committee and vice chairman of Bank of Shanghai, intends to serve as the head of the municipal enterprise. Shi Hongmin, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and vice president of the Bank of Shanghai, also plans to take up the post of municipal enterprise.
On December 9, 2023, Bank of Shanghai announced that Shi Hongmin, vice president of the bank, was elected as the vice chairman of the company and intends to be the president, and on January 31, Bank of Shanghai announced again that Shi Hongmin's qualifications for the position of vice chairman and president of Bank of Shanghai are approved by the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration.
According to the prospectus of Bank of Guangzhou, from 2020 to the first half of 2023, Bank of Guangzhou achieved revenue of 14.918 billion yuan, 16.564 billion yuan, 17.153 billion yuan and 8.445 billion yuan respectively, while the revenue showed an upward trend year by year, the net profit continued to decline, from 2020 to the first half of 2023, the bank's net profit was 4.455 billion yuan, 4.101 billion yuan, 3.339 billion yuan and 1.632 billion yuan respectively.
Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of Zhaolian, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society that 2024 will still be a big challenge for the banking industry. In general, the global banking industry is facing the challenges of low growth, low demand, low interest rates, and high risk (i.e., "three lows and one high"). The "2024 Economic and Financial Outlook Report" previously released by the Bank of China Research Institute also pointed out that in 2024, the global economic growth rate may slow down further, and the operating pressure of the banking industry may become more and more obvious.
"Of course, there are also many opportunities," Dong Ximiao said, no matter what, under the cyclical fluctuations, banks should recalibrate their development strategies and adjust their business strategies in a timely manner, so as to always walk on the scientific and correct path. As far as commercial banks are concerned, they should actively look for weakly sensitive assets to the economic cycle, and "grasp the two ends", that is, expand small and diversified assets, increase the total amount of customer service, and speed up the disposal of non-performing assets, so as to pass through the cycle and develop steadily.
Written by: Nandu Bay Finance Society reporter Peng Leyi Liu Changyuan