SIGI releases figures on bank employees

AMMAN — The number of banks in Jordan has remained unchanged in the past three years, standing at 25, 16 of which are local banks and nine foreign, the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) said on Monday, citing the 2016 annual report of the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ).

The number of branches grew from 770 in 2014 to 786 in 2015, reaching 808 in 2016, according to a SIGI statement.

By the end of 2016, the total number of employees working in the banks stood at 20,573, 13,417 of whom were men, marking a 65.2 per cent increase, while 7,156 were women, marking a 3.96 per cent increase compared to 2015.

Between 2008 and 2017, the number of employees in banks increased by 29.6 per cent, up from 15,878 nine years ago. 

Meanwhile, the number of female workers over the same period rose by 35.8 per cent, SIGI noted.

As for academic qualifications, the ABJ report showed that 14,588 employees had a higher diploma or a bachelor’s degree, making a 70.9 per cent increase over nine years.

Those who hold a master’s degree constituted 6.4 per cent of the total employees, while those with a PhD degree amounted to 58, or 0.3 per cent of all employees.

According to the statement, 64.9 per cent of the employees were 25 to 39 years old, 24 per cent were 40 to 59 years old and 70 employees were over 60 years old, constituting 0.3 per cent of the overall number.

SIGI said the report showed that 62.3 per cent of the employees were married.

Amman topped the number of employees working in the banking sector with 17,317, while Tafileh registered the lowest number of employees in the sector with only 76, constituting 0.4 per cent.

Women representation in the ABJ board of directors stood at 20 per cent, with two women out of the 10 members.