The number of bankers in Frankfurt continues to rise – but is falling in the rest of Germany. This is shown by Helaba's recently published Financial Centre Focus. According to the report, there were 70,700 employees subject to social security contributions in the city's banks at the end of the first quarter. This is almost 3% more than in the same period last year, though 0.2% less than at the turn of the year. Helaba expects employment in Frankfurt's banks to increase by around 2,800 to around 73,500 employees by the end of next year. This corresponds to an increase of 4%.

However, in view of demographic change, the analysis, for which Helaba's financial centre specialist Ulrike Bischoff is responsible, states that „the trend towards a slowdown in personnel expansion is to be expected in the coming years“. There is also a reference to possible adverse employment effects that could result from mergers. Without explicitly stating this, a possible takeover of Commerzbank by Unicredit, in particular, would, in all likelihood, be accompanied by job cuts in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt's importance as a banking centre is steadily increasing in terms of job numbers. More than 11% of all employees subject to social insurance contributions in the banking sector in Germany now work in the city. Ten years ago, the figure was still around 9%. According to the latest available figures, there were around 620,500 bankers throughout Germany in the spring. The second most important banking centre in Germany is Munich, where almost 6% of bankers are employed.

According to Helaba, the German banking labour market has been able to maintain the momentum of the previous year so far in 2024. Many companies have also been able to fill most of their trainee positions, although this is proving increasingly difficult. Last year, 21,700 people pursued a traditional banking apprenticeship in Germany, 600 more than in 2022. In previous years, the figures had been trending downwards.

At the beginning of the year, around 1,000 trainees were employed in the city's banks, according to figures from the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). According to these figures, 60% of them were completing the traditional training programme to become bank clerks. In addition, there were around 20% trainees in the office and secretarial areas, and 10% in IT. Helaba also sees the high number of bank trainees as an expression of a „bottleneck situation“ that the sector is facing in view of the shortage of skilled labour: „For many years, not enough bankers have been trained to counter the current and increasing staff shortage," the report states.

In order for the positive development of banking employment in Frankfurt to continue, a growing pool of young talent is needed. „To achieve this, the financial centre must join forces and create more targeted qualification opportunities in critical areas,“ says Helaba. The institutional conditions are certainly in place, with the large number of universities, research centres, financial institutions, and finance-related institutions.