Banks Compete to "Snatch Talent"! Intensive Spring Recruitment Campaigns as They Fight for These Key Professionals

Since March, the “talent war” in the financial industry has intensified.

Recently, the six major state-owned banks—Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Postal Savings Bank, and Bank of Communications—as well as joint-stock banks like China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, Ping An Bank, Beijing Bank (601169), and Zhangjiagang Rural Commercial Bank have all densely announced spring campus recruitment notices, fully opening online application channels.

Reviewing these recruitment announcements reveals that the structure of bank campus spring recruitment is undergoing a phase of adjustment. The most noticeable change is in the number of positions: on one hand, the recruitment of technology talent is increasing in both effort and proportion; on the other hand, traditional roles at counters and branch general positions, while still maintained at a certain scale, have not seen significant growth in numbers.

The data changes in recruitment reflect the phased evolution of digital transformation in the banking industry. Industry insiders point out that, amid sustained pressure on net interest margins, commercial banks’ technological demands are shifting from basic “business online” to in-depth “business intelligence.” In recent years, the focus of bank recruitment has heavily centered on cutting-edge fields such as large model applications, intelligent agents, and privacy computing.

Single Bank Recruitment Exceeds 1,000 Positions

According to a review by China Securities Journal, since mid-March, more than a dozen banks—including the six major state-owned banks—have released spring 2026 campus recruitment notices. In terms of scale, the large state-owned banks remain the main force in this spring recruitment. For example, Bank of China announced nearly 4,000 positions, and China Construction Bank released over 1,400, both exceeding 1,000.

“Banks are an important part of financial services, with numerous branches and diverse roles, making them a preferred employment choice for many college graduates each year,” said a university teacher in East China to China Securities Journal.

For instance, China Bank’s spring recruitment covers headquarter departments, domestic branches, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, overseas institutions, and comprehensive management companies, with roles including retail banking marketing, teller positions, IT roles, and intelligent operations.

Many banks are responding to policy directives by recruiting specialized talent. For example, China Construction Bank (601939) launched a “Rural Revitalization” special recruitment, with over 540 positions across 14 branches; some Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) units also opened county-specific roles, regardless of major, to attract graduates eager to contribute to rural revitalization.

Technology Roles: “Changing and Unchanging”

China Securities Journal notes that in the 2026 spring campus recruitment, demand for technology talent continues to grow. In some bank announcements, tech roles even account for nearly half of the staffing needs in headquarter departments.

The China Bank spring recruitment notice shows that almost all positions in headquarter units seeking talent are related to technology, including the Technology Operations Center, Software Center, Remote Banking Center, with most roles in information technology.

Ping An Bank has also set up a dedicated tech talent session, with its FinTech department developing a training program for new graduates. Centered on a “Finance + Technology” dual-helix training system, it offers practical experience in AI, systems engineering, information security, and more, recruiting for roles such as algorithms, data development, and front-end development.

Notably, as the open-source AI ecosystem matures, banks are increasingly refining their requirements for tech talent, shifting from “general IT” to “core AI” expertise.

The Intelligent Operations role at China Bank’s Remote Banking Center (Beijing) emphasizes the need to promote intelligent risk control and operational processes, responsible for designing and applying intelligent scenarios, training robots, building corpora, and advancing intelligent business operations and system development. It also involves maintaining knowledge bases for text and voice robots, requiring proficiency with training tools and data analysis to continuously optimize intelligent Q&A performance.

The Financial Technology Talent Program at Beijing Bank’s Shenzhen branch highlights that roles in software development will mainly involve big data and AI development, blockchain and distributed database development, and banking system development.

Tech Talent Becomes Highly Sought After

Industry insiders say that after years of building financial technology capabilities, the demand for tech talent across banks is gradually diversifying.

Wang Pengbo, senior analyst at Broadcom Consulting, notes that different banks have distinct focuses: “Large state-owned banks prioritize system infrastructure, cloud architecture, data security, and compliance, requiring solid technical skills and stability to handle large-scale system construction; joint-stock banks lean toward AI implementation, intelligent risk control, and retail finance scenarios that deliver performance, needing practitioners who understand both technology and business; city and rural commercial banks are more pragmatic, seeking quick-to-implement, lightweight development, and localized scenario talent, emphasizing rapid results.”

Wang also points out that as roles become more specialized, it indicates banks are no longer satisfied with simple online transformation but are actively reconstructing business with AI and large models. Tech departments are shifting from cost centers to value centers.

“The most urgent need in the industry now is for hybrid talents with expertise in ‘Finance + AI + Engineering’—those who understand credit and risk control, can fine-tune large models, develop intelligent agents, and implement projects,” Wang said.

However, recruiting tech talent in banks also faces challenges. China Securities Journal reports that while financial institutions are issuing talent recruitment orders, internet tech giants like Tencent, ByteDance, and Baidu have also launched their 2026 campus recruitment drives, making the talent war fiercer.

“Many bank executives have revealed that finding truly suitable fintech talent is quite difficult. Compared to popular internet giants, banks still need to optimize their talent evaluation, diversified compensation incentives, and long-term development and training opportunities,” an industry insider told China Securities Journal.

Dong Ximiao, chief economist at UnionPay and deputy director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, points out that AI applications are not only driving positive changes in business, organization, and cognition in finance but also bringing new issues in technology, regulation, and talent. “To leverage technology and retain talent, organizations should foster an open, inclusive, and tolerant innovation culture; promote collaboration in job assessments; and build a healthy talent ecosystem,” he said.

Wang Pengbo emphasizes that banks should not compete with internet companies solely on top salaries. Instead, they can rely on multiple development paths in technology, management, and business, as well as long-term benefits like household registration policies, social insurance, and housing funds to create advantages. To retain talent, it’s crucial to bring cutting-edge technology closer to financial scenarios, optimize work pace and environment, and provide ample growth opportunities.