Banking records highs in employment despite general slump

Economic sectors in Lebanon witnessed a sharp decline in employment trends influenced by the precarious conditions in the country, Al Diyar newspaper reported. On the other hand, citing the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL), Al Diyar noted that the local banking industry has recorded a relative surge in employment opportunities (an increase of 788 employees during 2015). This rise is attributed to many factors, including: a growth in the size of banking activity; increase in the number of local branches (reaching a total of over 1060 branches); diversification of services and finally, and increasing specialization of banking tasks and disciplines. According to ABL, the overall number of employees in the banking sector across Lebanon has reached nearly 24638 persons distributed on the different categories of the operating banks: 20478 employees in the Lebanese commercial banks S.A.L (32 banks) representing 83.1 % of the total number of employees in the industry; 2661 employees in banks with major Arab capital (9 banks); 424 employees in branches of Arab banks (8 banks); 310 employees in branches of non-Arab banks (4 banks) and 765 employees in business banks (16 banks). (Al Diyar, September 2, 2016)