DHAKA, June 02, 2026 (BSS) - The banking and financial sector witnessed an overall increase of female employment in the last five years, but family matters, social reasons and marging incidents of banks contribute to decreasing women employees in this sectors.

Oitindhrila Itu passed her MBA from Chattogram University in 2023. After graduation, she was preparing herself for job examinations.

After appearing in several banking recruitment examinations, she was finally selected as a provisional officer at a private bank in 2025 and joined shortly after receiving her appointment letter.

However, she left the job after only seven months.

According to the latest report on gender equality in the banking and financial sectors published by Bangladesh Bank, the number of female employees in banks and non-bank financial institutions has decreased.

In the span of six months, the number of female employees in banks declined by 721, while financial institutions saw a reduction of 49 female employees. Overall, the number of female employees in the banking and financial sector dropped by 770 during the period.

The report said the number of female employees in the banking sector stood at 35,061 at the end of last December, down from 35,782 at the end of last June.

Similarly, the number of female employees in non-bank financial institutions declined to 1,019 at the end of December from 1,068 at the end of June last year.

Bangladesh Bank stated that the report was prepared based on information collected from 61 banks and 35 financial institutions across the country.

According to the report, the total number of employees in the banking and financial sector at the end of December was 218,487. Of them, 182,407 were male and 36,080 were female.

As a result, women accounted for 16.5 percent of the total workforce in the banking and financial sector, while men represented 83.5 percent.

Stakeholders in the banking sector said that following the country’s political transition in 2024, Bangladesh Bank initiated steps to merge and close several crisis-ridden banks and financial institutions, a move supported by the government.

As a result of these initiatives, many female employees either lost their positions or left their jobs in the affected banks and financial institutions from where thousand crores of money were siphoned off abroad during the deposed Awami League government.

In addition, many women resigned during this period for various family and social reasons.

Bangladesh Bank data showed that the total number of employees in banks and financial institutions was 189,484 in December 2020. The figure has increased by around 29,000 over the past five years.

During this period, the number of male employees increased by 22,316, while the number of female employees rose by 6,687.

At the end of 2020, women accounted for 15.5 percent of the total workforce in the banking sector. Over the past five years, that share has increased by around one percentage point to 16.5 percent at the end of last year.

However, compared to the first half of last year, the number of female employees declined during the last six months.

Most of female are employed in private banks. At the end of last year, 22,983 women were working in private commercial banks.

The second-highest 9147 female was in state-owned commercial banks.

In addition, 1,947 women were employed in specialized commercial banks and 984 in foreign commercial banks at the end of last year.

In percentage terms, foreign commercial banks had the highest share of female employees. Of the total 3,931 employees in foreign commercial banks, 984 were women, accounting for more than 25 percent of the workforce.

Banker Md Jewel said the number of women is declining not only in banks but across all workplaces.

“However, at different levels of education, we see that women are ahead of men in many areas in terms of talent. But that picture changes when it comes to the workplace as our family, social system and institutional structure have not yet become completely work-friendly for women. 

To improve this situation, society, families and institutions must be made more women-friendly,” he said.