Shortened bank hours

[disneysteve]

I made a rare trip to the bank today as I'm out of $1 bills and it's yard sale season. I got there only to find it dark. The sign on the door indicated that their hours are now 10-4. They've always opened at 9 previously. I'm guessing it's due to the labor shortage. Oh well, I'll have to make a special trip to get back there later today before closing time.

I'm certainly not surprised as this has been a trend across various business in recent years - pharmacies, restaurants, etc. With record low unemployment, businesses are struggling to find and keep enough employees to operate at full capacity. Add banks to the list now too, I guess.

[kork13]

I made a rare trip to the bank today as I'm out of $1 bills and it's yard sale season. I got there only to find it dark. The sign on the door indicated that their hours are now 10-4. They've always opened at 9 previously. I'm guessing it's due to the labor shortage. Oh well, I'll have to make a special trip to get back there later today before closing time.

I'm certainly not surprised as this has been a trend across various business in recent years - pharmacies, restaurants, etc. With record low unemployment, businesses are struggling to find and keep enough employees to operate at full capacity. Add banks to the list now too, I guess.

The dynamic also involves the level of employees that are hard to find -- entry level jobs where just about anybody can do it (store clerk, server, laborer, etc.) vs. technical/professional jobs where specialty training or experience are required. Both sides have shortages, but I think the lower-end jobs are more readily apparent -- they earn less, but are also a necessary lubricant for our society. Nobody wants to take basic jobs when other places are offering higher pay with minimal requirements... or they can simply make-do with gig-economy type of jobs & have all the flexibility they want.

[disneysteve]

The dynamic also involves the level of employees that are hard to find -- entry level jobs where just about anybody can do it (store clerk, server, laborer, etc.) vs. technical/professional jobs where specialty training or experience are required. Both sides have shortages, but I think the lower-end jobs are more readily apparent -- they earn less, but are also a necessary lubricant for our society. Nobody wants to take basic jobs when other places are offering higher pay with minimal requirements... or they can simply make-do with gig-economy type of jobs & have all the flexibility they want.

I also think bank tellers are a job that is still predominantly female so the availability of affordable child care probably comes into play. That availability has gotten much worse since the onset of the pandemic resulting in many younger woman leaving the workforce because they can't get or afford child care.

Gig jobs and self-employment in general also grew tremendously as a result of the pandemic. When people's jobs got shut down, it forced many to get creative and gave many the push they needed to finally set out on their own. Tons of new small businesses have come to be in the past 3 years. I know a number of people who sold on ebay part time for years but went full time since 2020 and have never looked back. They now answer to nobody but themselves and have 100% control and flexibility with their time, and they're making as much and often more than they did at their old jobs.

Then there is the cohort of the labor force that used the pandemic as their exit point, retiring sometimes years earlier than they had planned. I was at a medical conference a few weeks ago and was speaking with the physician recruiters from one of our area medical systems. I asked what impact they've seen due to the pandemic and they immediately responded "mass retirement". A ton of doctors hung it up when COVID hit. They were working because they wanted to, not because they needed to, but when it became literally life-threatening to go into work each day, they called it quits. Had COVID arrived a couple of years later, I probably would have quit entirely myself. I just wasn't quite financially ready yet in 2020, but there's no way I would have subjected myself to that if I didn't need to.

[bjl584]

My local bank is only open 3 days a week now instead of 5.

[ua_guy]

I think this also reflects the changing nature of banking, in general. I mean, people Venmo at yard sales now, mortgages are done online, wires can be set up online, and direct deposit is much more common. Physical branches still have legitimate uses, but I kind of see why they're able to condense their activities into a smaller window.

[disneysteve]

My local bank is only open 3 days a week now instead of 5.

Wow. Have they said why?

[disneysteve]

I think this also reflects the changing nature of banking, in general. I mean, people Venmo at yard sales now, mortgages are done online, wires can be set up online, and direct deposit is much more common. Physical branches still have legitimate uses, but I kind of see why they're able to condense their activities into a smaller window.

And yet they’ve built so many new branches in recent years. We have at least a dozen new locations within a few miles of our house. It baffles me. I have no idea why they keep building them when we’re moving more and more away from a need for them.

[AJSimon]

I started noticing the hours shortening back during Covid.

[bjl584]

Wow. Have they said why?

No. I tried to stop there a week or so ago, and the doors were locked and the lights were out. No sign on the door or anything to explain why they are only open 3 days a week.

[disneysteve]

I started noticing the hours shortening back during Covid.

Definitely but most had gotten back to normal. This change is new.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Bank locations close to me closed down.