Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) hasa great impact on the human resources of the banking sector, according to thegeneral director of Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank).

Previously, economic students accounted for 90 percent of banks' employees, nowit was only 60 percent, said Nguyen Duc Vinh, general director of VietnamProsperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank).

The banking industry was prioritising technology experts graduating fromscience and technology universities, not only those from economic schools, Vinhsaid.

Not only that, the industrial revolution has also forced many banks to cutlarge numbers of personnel due to the replacement of machines and artificialintelligence.

More than 2,000 employees were cut at VPBank last year, accounting for nearly20 percent of the total number of employees compared to the beginning of theyear.

Vinh said the reason for the fluctuation was that the bank focused ondeveloping the digital banking segment, optimising its operating systems andsales activities. Meanwhile, small loans were approved online with the help ofartificial intelligence that did not need humans, he said.

"There are about 96 percent of transactions made via e-bankingapplications and automated banking systems. Only about four percent oftransactions at VPBank are directly at the counters and the ratio may decreasewhen the bank improves the stability of the e-banking system, integrates manynew features to create a digital banking ecosystem," Vinh affirmed.

Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB) also cut more than 1,400 employeeslast year, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the bank's personnel.

In addition to the above two names, many commercial banks such as Vietnam JointStock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank), National CitizenCommercial Joint Stock Bank (NCB), and Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (ACB)also reduced their employees last year.

"The change in personnel needs shows that banks are adopting policies toadjust towards increasing human resources in technology, consulting, decisionmaking and reducing manpower in the fields of operation and automation – wheremachines can do better than humans,” said Can Van Luc, chief economist of theBank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).

New positions needed in the future will be machine learning engineers, deeplearning engineers, and fraud analysts, Luc said.

Previously, the reduction of human resources often reflected the difficultiesof enterprises, but now, this is no longer accurate.

The move to reduce employees not only reduces the bank's business results butalso helps to reduce operating costs and contribute to profit growth.

Specifically, at VPBank, despite reducing a fifth of employees at the parentbank, profit before tax increased by 24 percent last year, accounting fornearly 57 percent of the bank's consolidated profit.

OCB also saw a year-on-year increase of nearly 47 percent last year in itsprofit.

Although technology is an indispensable factor in the 4.0 era, it is only atool to support people in activities.

Therefore, the problem for banks today is how to "hunt" experts whoare both technically proficient but also have mastered banking skills./.