ess. As a result, there was increased competition among the remaining institutions for the swelling customer base. At the same time, some institutions recognized that customers would shy away from small banks and savings and loans, and so mergers and acquisitions were undertaken. This was also a strategy used by institutions who were in danger of being taken into receivership if they could not improve their financial standing.
As a result of these changes, the employment situation within the thrift industry changed, as well. As institutions sought to become more competitive, they extended their business hours. As institutions were acquired or went out of business, the available skilled workforce swelled, with the result that there were more skilled employees available than positions. In order to fill some of the new slots, institutions chose to use part-time employees rather than full-time workers. This meant that an institution could remain open longer during the work week and open for several hours on Saturday without taking on the burden of benefits for the employees. At the same time, the availability of workers who had lost full-time positions made this strategy feasible because these workers preferred part-time work to no work at all.
The branch where I work is no exception to this trend. Part-time workers have been used to fill teller positions as well as platform positions. Loan officers, new account representatives and most other positions in the branch now have part-time workers in their ranks. In some cases, the part-time workers outnumber the full-time workers, with some lead positions being part-time as well.
This strategy saves the institution in several ways, and has not had a serious adverse effect on customer service. The bank saves money because it can hire experienced workers but not have to pay them a full-time salary. It can cover its operating hours without having excess capacity, which it wou...