China's state-owned commercial banks are expanding their hiring of college graduates this year in spite of their poor performances due to impact brought by the coronavirus epidemic. 

Banks normally start university hiring interviews in October or November but several have already began hiring and increasing their headcounts.

The Bank of Communications (BoCom) is one of theose state-owned banks that have already started hiring. Most of the positions on offer are for management trainees in fintech and financial services.

"Most of the professionals we're hiring are not limited just to the financial industry itself, but also to computers, mathematics and technology," said Tang Jianwei, chief researcher at BoCom.

BoCom and three other state-owned banks - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of China - together plan to enroll a total of 44,000 college graduates this year. Students, who are graduating this year or are expecting to leave the campus next year, can all apply.

In the wake of the epidemic, a good job at a bank has become very attractive. Chen Guangrun has just graduated and is now working at a state-owned bank in Shanghai. He applied for the job last summer and said he feels lucky to land the position as the post-epidemic competition is expected to be fierce this year. 

"Bank jobs are stable. You can study while working here without too much worries. For example, some private firms might cut salaries or reduce staff because of business setbacks, but that's less likely to happen with banks," said Chen.

The number of people looking for such jobs is on the rise. A report from employment website Liepin shows a large number of college graduates are now looking primarily at jobs with stable salaries -- almost 40 percent of those surveyed have chosen to apply for civil service positions. 

"The economy has recovered rapidly since the epidemic. But there are still feelings of insecurity and everyone is looking for a stable job," said Song Jie, general manager at G&E Human Resources Consulting.

Of course all this is coming at a difficult time for the commercial lenders, several of which have just released downbeat fiscal reports for the first half of 2020. BoCom, Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China all reported double-digit profit declines year-on-year. Will the expanded hiring put even more pressure on their profits? The experts are looking on the bright side.

"Banks are still expanding their business, so it's not unusual that they should expand hiring. And also, though China's economy slowed in the first half of the year, especially the first quarter. We expect a six percent rebound in the third and fourth quarters. Banks should grow well in the second half and so they naturally have a demand for more employees," said Tang Jianwei, chief researcher at BoCom.

The epidemic has hit the year's first-half profits at commercial banks, which are responding by restructuring in several ways. Earlier this month, China's central bank the People's Bank of China encouraged them to help stabilize employment by entering new business areas such as green finance and fintech.

(Cover via VCG)