Securities industry cuts 5.27% of jobs, but sponsor representatives, analysts, and investment advisors are growing against the trend.

Due to factors such as market environment and business transformation, the personnel structure of the securities industry continues to change. Data from East Money InformationChoice shows that as of December 15th, the total number of personnel in 121 securities companies with available data was 332,000, a decrease of 18,500 from the beginning of the year, a decrease of 5.27%. According to the registered occupational categories, the main losses this year were in general securities business personnel and securities brokers, while investment advisors, sponsoring representatives, and analysts saw growth. As of December 15th, the number of general securities business personnel was 208,300, a decrease of 13,500 from the beginning of the year; the number of securities brokers was 28,700, a decrease of 8,600 from the beginning of the year. Despite the impact of the reform in public offering commission rates on research institutes at various securities firms, the number of analysts has continued to grow. As of December 15th, there were a total of 5,532 analysts in 121 securities firms, an increase of 896 from the beginning of the year. The same is true for sponsoring representatives, with an increase in personnel despite a slowdown in the overall market's equity financing. Currently, there are 8,806 sponsoring representatives in the industry, an increase of 174 from the beginning of the year. Another area with growing employment numbers is the investment advisory position, with a total of 79,900 people as of December 15th, an increase of 2,852 from the beginning of the year, a growth rate of 3.7%. The changes in the number of investment advisory personnel reflect the industry's accelerating shift towards buyer advisory services. As wealth management transformations deepen, investment advisory services as an institution's interface with customers become increasingly important, requiring more professional personnel. In terms of individual companies (excluding subsidiaries), a total of 9 securities firms have reduced their staff numbers by more than 500 people this year. Most of them are large securities firms, such as CITIC SEC, Guosen, GF SEC, all of which reduced their personnel by more than 1,000 from the beginning of the year. This is somewhat related to their large size, as they rank higher in terms of absolute value. In addition, the large changes in staff numbers at CITIC SEC may be related to its transfer of 21 branches in five southern provinces to CITIC SEC South China this year. CITIC South China added 545 new employees, mainly in general securities and investment advisory. Among the smaller securities firms that reduced their staff by more than 500 people are Guotou Securities, Changjiang, and Huayuan Securities. It is worth noting that, despite the overall trend of downsizing in the industry, some securities firms have seen an increase in staff numbers since the beginning of the year. Among them, securities firms that have expanded their staff by more than 50 people include Shengang Securities, Zhongyou Securities, Huachuang Securities, Maigao Securities, Dongguan Securities, and China Galaxy. China Galaxy's staff has crossed the 11,000 mark, adding 367 people compared to the beginning of the year, ranking first in the industry. Another top securities firm that has increased its staff is Huatai, adding 20 people compared to the beginning of the year. Looking at the specific changes in the number of practice positions, one can see adjustments in the human resources allocation structure of some securities firms. In terms of absolute values, the top securities firms have made the most significant efforts to recruit more investment advisors and expand their analyst teams, while the number of personnel in other positions has mostly declined. Among smaller securities firms, the investment advisory teams at Dongguan Securities, Sinolink, Huaxi, and Huachuang Securities have also expanded rapidly, with the latter two firms significantly increasing their number of analysts. In terms of percentage increase, Huafu Securities, Huayuan Securities, and Guolian have all increased their number of analysts by 50% or more compared to the beginning of the year.