While JP Morgan Chase’s plans to raise wages were recently announced, Thursday’s earnings report also revealed that Chase is planning on hiring additional tellers, commercial bankers, and technical staff.
The hiring of additional commercial bank personnel came as a surprise to many, as Chase has announced that they will be following the trend of many banks in shutting down numerous branches.
Chase’s earnings report showed a better-than-expected revenue of $25.2 billion, which is believed to allow the bank to add to their workforce that is already 240,000 strong.
Compared to the same quarter last year, the number of branches that Chase operates fell by three percent. Chase now operates 5,366 commercial bank branches.
It is believed that physical bank branches are in lesser demand due to the shifting banking preferences of consumers. Smartphones and independent ATMs have made it so a traditional branch is not needed for many bank transactions.
Instead of entirely getting rid of branches, many banks have instead scaled down the size of their retail locations.
The hiring trend of Chase is also being followed by other major banks, which has been welcomed, as many banks had trimmed back their labor force in order to increase profitability.
