EMU and the future of bank employees

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Because of the technological changes it implies, EMU and the forthcoming euro single currency is beginning, in 1998, to have repercussions on the type of functions performed by employees in the Portuguese banking sector. Meanwhile, recent figures show a decrease in the size of the workforce, particularly affecting branch employees.

Because of recent changes in the Portuguese banking sector, certain functions performed by employees have become less stable. A case in point are the functions carried out by branch employees traditionally known as "cashiers", whose careers are being put into question by EU Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the introduction of the single currency, the euro. On the one hand, in certain transactions, the "human factor" is being replaced by technology. On the other hand, the technological innovations imposed by the single currency favour banking professionals who are more flexible, multiskilled and possess a higher degree of education.

The Institute for Banking Education (Instituto de Formação Bancária, IFB), Portugal's main bank training organisation, associated with the Portuguese Banking Association (Associação Portuguesa de Bancos, APB), has found that there has been an overall increase in the qualifications of employees, in that the proportion of university graduates has rapidly risen from 5% to 20%. Competition among banks has also put a premium on a combination of commercial and administrative skills. In addition, new financial services have underscored the need for new job skills in management, planning, marketing and communications.

According to data recently published in the APB bulletin (Boletim Informativo, APB, Ano 11, No. 21, June 1998), gathered from almost all banks that operate in Portugal, from 1992 to 1996, the number of employees in the Portuguese banking sector fell from 60,772 to 57,633 - a decrease of more than 3,000 jobs (482 of which were eliminated from 1996 to 1997). Most affected were those employees working at branch offices - from 1996 to 1997 there were 621 fewer branch employees, though 139 jobs were created in technical and administrative support areas. According to APB, the decrease in staffing "is part of a strategic option taken by the banks to increase productivity".

While the number of bank employees overall is decreasing, the number of bank branches has been growing. From December 1992 to December 1997, more than 500 new branches were set up throughout the country - bringing the total from 2,852 to 4,123 branches - and the trend is expected to continue.