THE NUMBER of employees in the Slovak banking sector dropped by 202 as of late March in comparison with the end of 2009. The registered number of staff members in banks has been gradually decreasing in each quarter since the end of 2008. Banks had 19,634 employees at the end of March, representing a year-on-year decline of 1,764, the SITA newswire wrote, citing data from the National Bank of Slovakia.
The commercial banking segment reported a 1.1 percent drop in the number of its employees, with staff falling by 205 persons from the end of 2009 to 18,545. The central bank, in contrast, reported a quarterly increase of three staff members to 1,089.
As of the end of the first quarter, the banking sector reported 1,238 branch offices and other facilities which was a slight increase from the end of last year. Slovenská Sporiteľňa had the most bank branches with 299, followed by VÚB Banka with 252, ČSOB with 155 and Tatra Banka with 152 at the end of 2009.
According to the National Bank of Slovakia, 15 commercial banks and twelve arms of foreign banks are active in Slovakia.
