Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm with offices around the world, conducted its 41st annual bank compensation and benefits survey. The report compiles data from 429 financial service organizations and includes information on benefits, incentives, director compensation and current trends in key human capital management practices, as well as salary and bonus benchmarks for 271 job positions.

In 2021, banks fared well in retaining talent across all positions and while they have remained stable at the officer level – defined as employees with the legal capacity to agree and sign documents on behalf of their organization – they have seen a sharp rise in turnover for nonofficer employees in 2022. The turnover rate for nonofficers reached its highest levels since 2019, increasing from 16.2% in 2021 to 23.4% in 2022. This trend occurred despite the average salary for these positions increasing by 5% in 2022.

"Financial service organizations made real progress in reducing turnover over the previous two years, but the data shows it is becoming increasingly difficult for banks to retain and recruit talent at this level," said Thomas Grottke, a managing director specializing in financial services consulting and performance improvement at Crowe. "The industry cannot compete for talent based on compensation and benefits packages alone, so organizations must work to improve their training programs and culture. Banks have had success in doing so by engaging their staff in innovation teams, new projects and initiatives; and utilizing automation to help streamline mundane processes."

With the highly competitive job market, banks have found it more difficult than in the past to attract and retain talent. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed responded that retaining younger talent is "somewhat challenging," up 19% from 2021. Many factors affect recruitment and retention, such as remote work flexibility and bonus programs. Among the financial organizations surveyed in 2022, 64% had a pay-for-performance program and 52% planned on allowing employees to work remotely in the future.