Hiring Increases Reflect Credit Union Confidence

The total number of credit union employees increased by 2.8% in 2012, the largest credit union employment increase reported since the Great Recession began in 2007. This uptick in staffing numbers “means that credit union leadership is more positive about the future of the economy and their credit unions,” Credit Union National Association Chief Economist Bill Hampel said.

The 2012 growth brought the total number of credit union employees nationwide to 265,201. The number of full-time and part-time employees on credit union payrolls increased by 3.1% and 1.3%, respectively, in 2012, CUNA reported. There were 257,872, credit union employees in 2011, according to CUNA.

This credit union employment level increase follows several years of flat staffing numbers following the 2007 economic crisis, which included declines in full-time employee totals in 2009 and 2010. Net interest margin declined, provisions for loan losses skyrocketed, and costs related to corporate stabilization increased during those years, and “credit unions were doing everything they could to protect their capital and their bottom line, including postponing hiring and cutting back discretionary expenses as much as they could,” Hampel said.

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