Women employees in banking sector drop sharply in six months. Here’s why
Bankers say a significant number of employees were either dismissed or resigned voluntarily following the restructuring of several bank boards by the central bank
Highlights:
- Female bank employees dropped by 1,867 in six months
- Private commercial banks saw biggest decline in female staff
- Layoffs, resignations, instability blamed for women leaving sector
- Overall female workforce share fell from 17.9% to 16.6%
- Women remain underrepresented in senior banking roles, only 9.7%
- Bangladesh Bank to investigate reasons behind sharp female exits
The number of female officers and employees in the country's banking sector has fallen sharply by 1,867 in the first six months of the current year, a sudden reversal of a long-standing upward trend.
Bankers say a significant number of employees were either dismissed or resigned voluntarily following the restructuring of several bank boards by the central bank.
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According to the Bangladesh Bank's Gender Equality Report, the total number of female banking employees stood at 35,782 at the end of June 2025, down from 37,649 six months earlier.
The report highlights a significant drop in private commercial banks, where the number of female employees decreased by 2,014, settling at 24,050 by the end of June. This contrasts with a slight increase in state-owned, specialised, and foreign banks during the same period.
Layoffs and uncertainty blamed for decline
The sharp fall has been attributed to widespread layoffs and voluntary resignations. The total number of banking employees (male and female) across the country also decreased by 987, reaching 213,267. However, within private commercial banks, the number of male employees increased by 1,168 even as female staff numbers plummeted.
Overall, 16.62% of officers and staff were women at the end of June this year, down from 17.90% six months earlier.
As of June 2025, women accounted for just 13.61% of board members, with the highest presence in foreign commercial banks (17.54%) and the lowest in state-owned banks (6.25%).
An official from the Human Resources Department of Al-Arafah Islami Bank told TBS that 547 employees had been dismissed from their bank over the last year, with about 10% being women.
He suggested that job losses were also significant at several other banks, with the total number of dismissals across the sector estimated to be over 2,000.
An FSIB senior official explained that many employees were dismissed from banks controlled by specific business groups after the new government took power. Additionally, many women are leaving the sector due to a sense of instability and are seeking employment in other industries, which has also been reflected in a comparatively lower number of new female hires over the last six months.
Chowdhury Liaquat Ali, director of the Sustainable Finance Department at the Bangladesh Bank, confirmed that many employees were dismissed due to irregularities in the recruitment process identified in some banks.
"It is extremely concerning that nearly 2,000 female employees have left in the last six months. We need to analyse the data to understand why such a large number of women have suddenly left," he said, adding that a research team would be formed to investigate.
A deputy managing director of a private commercial bank told TBS that the dismissals were not limited to banks where boards were dissolved, but were also rampant in banks that previously topped various performance indicators.
Gender disparity in senior roles
The report highlights that women's representation remains particularly low at the top levels of the banking sector. As of June 2025, women accounted for just 13.61% of board members, with the highest presence in foreign commercial banks (17.54%) and the lowest in state-owned banks (6.25%).
While their participation is higher at the entry level (18.87%) and mid-level (15.96%), it drops significantly at the senior management level to just 9.73%.
Furthermore, the participation rate of female officers over the age of 50 (10.36%) is less than half that of women under 30 (21.90%). The report also notes that foreign banks have a significantly higher employee turnover rate among female staff compared to state-owned, specialised, and private commercial banks.
