Industry Employment by the Numbers: Credit Unions Hire, Banks Freeze

Credit unions increased their employment 3.5% last year from Colorado to the Carolinas, while bank employment was basically flat.

While the FDIC showed banks increased their full-time equivalent employees (FTE) by only 0.2% last year, full-time-equivalent employees increased by 3.5% among credit unions.

Banks ended 2021 with nearly 2.1 million jobs, up 3,446, despite an 8.5% increase in assets to $23.72 trillion.

Credit unions added 11,668 full-time jobs and cut 1,118 part-time jobs in 2021, ending the year with 327,218 FTEs. Their assets grew 12.1% to $2.08 trillion.

The gains included ENT Credit Union in Colorado Springs, Colo. ($8.7 billion in assets, 449,298 members), where FTEs rose from 1,205 at the end of 2020 to 1,403 at the end of 2021, and Truliant Federal Credit Union of Winston-Salem, N.C. ($3.8 billion in assets, 286,276 members), where FTEs rose from 713 at the end of 2020 to 789 at the end of 2021.

And Truliant announced March 3 that it will add more than 100 new jobs this year as it expands services in its base in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Truliant said its job growth is driven by the need for more employees in technology and products and services areas, including mortgage lending, insurance, indirect auto lending and business lending, among others. The jobs are a mix of remote, hybrid and in-person roles.

Truliant’s membership grew 5.7% last year, compared with 4.6% for the movement as a whole.

President/CEO Todd Hall said the credit union was able to attract about 80,000 new members since 2016 by offering more services and “a mission-driven, member-focused, collaborative workplace that operates on the belief of putting members first.”

“The urgency of our hiring initiative comes from a desire to create the best possible experience for Truliant members as we grow,” Hall said. “To continue transforming our services and unlocking the vast potential of new technology requires a greater investment in people.”

Truliant had 789 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2021 (781 full-time plus 16 part-time), including 670 employees in Winston-Salem and nearby communities in north-central North Carolina. The number of FTEs was 10.7% higher than December 2020.

Adding 100 jobs this year would be a 13% increase for Truliant. Among all credit unions, full-time equivalents rose 3.5% to 327,218 last year.

There was one full-time-equivalent employee for every 363 Truliant members last year, down from 380 in the previous two years. Among all credit unions, members per FTE were 400 at the end of 2021, compared with 396 in December 2020.

Average pay and benefits was $83,039 last year at Truliant, up 11% from two years earlier.

During the pandemic, Truliant paid two “thank-you” bonuses and expanded flexible work-from home options for employees. The credit union’s corporate offices welcomed hybrid and full-time office employees back to the building on Feb. 28.

So far, Truliant has been able to absorb higher employee expenses.

Pay and benefits was 51.4% of non-interest expenses in the fourth quarter, down from 54.3% in 2020’s fourth quarter. Among all credit unions, employee costs fell from 52.2% of overhead in December 2020 to 51.3% at the end of 2021.

Truliant’s return on average assets was 1.33% for the full year of 2021, up from 0.88% in 2019 and 0.96% in 2020. ROA for all credit unions was 1.06% for 2021, up from 0.70% in 2020.

Truliant said it is heavily recruiting in areas including project management, information technology and member service. The credit union is also adding jobs in its call center, mortgage services and its recently launched Insurance Services division.

The credit union has several openings for bilingual preferred or required roles.

“As an established financial institution that values having a high-quality workplace, these new roles will make us better positioned to support our communities by providing upward mobility and a way for job seekers to use their transferrable skills to improve their job status, pay and benefits,” Hall said.