By Caroline Hayes, banking-industry labor reporter with 12 years of experience covering branch employment, workforce restructuring and financial-services hiring
Last reviewed: July 20, 2026
First Merchants Corporation reported 2,086 full-time-equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025, along with an 18% employee turnover rate for that year. Those two figures, disclosed in the company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, describe an employer large enough to offer distinct branch, lending, credit, technology and management tracks, but one that must continuously replace departing workers.
The broader labor market points in two directions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 13% decline in teller employment from 2024 to 2034, while openings continue because employees leave or move into other occupations.
What First Merchants’ Headcount Shows
First Merchants Corporation is the publicly traded parent of First Merchants Bank. The company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on February 25, 2026, listed 2,086 full-time-equivalent employees across the corporation and its subsidiaries at the end of 2025.
That figure is a year-end snapshot, not a count of everyone who worked for the company at any point during the year. It also uses full-time equivalents, meaning part-time labor can be combined into the equivalent of full-time positions rather than reported as a simple number of individuals.
The distinction matters.
First Merchants completed its acquisition of First Savings Financial Group on February 1, 2026, adding 16 banking centers in southern Indiana. Because that transaction occurred after the December 31 headcount date, the 2,086 figure does not capture the full post-acquisition workforce.
The analytical reading is that First Merchants entered 2026 as a midsize regional-bank employer and then expanded its physical network. A directly comparable post-acquisition employee total had not been published in the sources reviewed, so adding branch counts to the old headcount would produce an unsupported estimate.
Turnover Was Below the Company’s Target
First Merchants reported an 18% turnover rate in 2025 and said its workforce goal was to keep turnover at 20% or lower.
The company met its stated target.
That does not mean turnover was low in an absolute sense. If a workforce stayed near 2,086 full-time equivalents throughout the year, an 18% rate would represent substantial employee movement, although the filing does not provide enough detail to calculate an exact number of departures.
The filing also does not break turnover down by:
- voluntary resignations
- retirement
- dismissals
- branch roles
- corporate roles
- geography
- employee tenure
Without those categories, the number cannot show whether departures were concentrated among entry-level service employees or spread evenly across the organization.
Even so, turnover adds context that company career pages rarely provide. First Merchants’ published target acknowledges that retention is a measurable operating issue, not simply a recruiting slogan.
The First Merchants Career Structure
The company’s careers page describes work spanning customer-facing banking, problem solving, project management and specialized functions. It also names career-development tools including mentorship, training and leadership opportunities available from the beginning of employment.
Public information suggests at least four broad career lanes:
| Career lane | Typical work represented in labor data |
|---|---|
| Branch service | Teller transactions, customer questions, cash handling |
| Account support | New accounts, records, transaction corrections |
| Lending and credit | Loan processing, underwriting support, loan decisions |
| Corporate and technical | Risk, compliance, cybersecurity, finance and project work |
The table describes occupational families, not a guaranteed First Merchants promotion chart.
A branch employee may begin with transaction and customer-service duties, then move toward account-opening or relationship work. BLS says financial clerks can advance into related finance occupations; it gives the example of a loan interviewer or clerk moving into a loan-officer role after obtaining the required education or licensing.
That is the clearest documented ladder in the federal data: transaction work, broader account responsibility, then a role requiring judgment, credentials or production responsibility.
What Entry-Level Banking Work Actually Includes
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook: Tellers says tellers typically process deposits and withdrawals, cash checks, answer account questions, order cards or checks and balance their cash drawers. Tellers may also identify customer needs and refer customers to colleagues handling products such as loans or certificates of deposit.
The occupation generally requires a high school diploma or equivalent, no related work experience and short-term on-the-job training. BLS counted 347,400 teller jobs in 2024.
Entry does not require a banking degree.
Accuracy is the harder requirement. BLS describes tellers as responsible for verifying identity and account information, recording transactions and ensuring that cash balances correctly at the end of a shift.
This makes branch service more than generic retail customer service. The employee is working inside a controlled financial environment where mistakes can affect customer balances, cash totals and regulatory records.
First Merchants’ careers page emphasizes attentive listening and thoughtful problem solving, language that fits the shift from pure transaction handling toward broader client service.
The Decline in Teller Jobs Changes the Ladder
BLS projects teller employment to fall from 347,400 jobs in 2024 to 302,500 in 2034, a reduction of 44,900 positions or 13%.
The agency attributes the decline to online banking, mobile check deposits, branch consolidation and automation such as enhanced ATMs and remote teller kiosks.
Yet BLS still projects 29,800 teller openings per year over the decade. Those openings are expected to come from replacement needs rather than expansion.
That distinction explains how banks can continue advertising teller and service-associate positions while the occupation shrinks nationally. Local vacancies do not necessarily indicate long-term growth; they may reflect turnover, retirement, internal movement or staffing changes following an acquisition.
The career implication is structural rather than personal. Transaction-only roles face pressure, while positions combining service, account knowledge, digital support and relationship responsibilities are harder to replace with one machine or self-service screen.
First Merchants’ own 18% turnover rate reinforces that replacement hiring can remain active even when the national occupation is declining.
Financial Clerk Roles Offer a Wider Route
BLS counted 1,193,000 financial-clerk jobs in 2024 and reported a $48,650 median annual wage for the category. The group includes loan interviewers, new accounts clerks, credit authorizers, billing clerks and other employees who maintain records or process financial information.
Within the category, BLS counted:
| Occupation | Jobs in 2024 |
| Loan interviewers and clerks | 177,600 |
| New accounts clerks | 38,900 |
| Credit authorizers, checkers and clerks | 12,000 |
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Clerks, 2024 employment estimates.
New accounts clerks explain services, help customers complete applications and investigate account errors. Loan interviewers gather and verify information needed for loan applications, while credit clerks review records against established approval standards.
These duties sit between teller work and higher-discretion lending or analytical positions.
The category is also contracting. BLS projects total financial-clerk employment to decline 5% from 2024 to 2034, equal to 58,300 fewer positions. New accounts clerk employment is projected to decline 13%, while loan interviewer and clerk employment is projected to decline 2%.
Technology is the main pressure named by BLS. Online tools let customers complete more tasks themselves, while productivity systems reduce the labor needed for record checking and application processing.
The hierarchy is shifting. Movement into roles requiring judgment, regulatory knowledge, complex client handling or team leadership carries more long-term value than movement between similar clerical titles.
Training and Career Development at First Merchants
First Merchants publicly lists tuition reimbursement, mentorship, training and leadership opportunities as elements of its career-development offering. The careers page also says paid time off increases with tenure and lists paid volunteer time, paid parental leave, medical and dental plans and 401(k) matching.
Specific dollar amounts are absent.
The public page does not disclose:
- tuition-reimbursement maximums
- 401(k) matching formula
- vesting schedule
- number of PTO days
- parental-leave duration
- required tenure for particular programs
The difference between a named benefit and a quantified benefit is significant. A careers page confirms that the program exists; it does not establish the financial value available to every employee.
First Merchants also lists seven employee resource groups: Emerging Professionals, First Women Connections, InterFaith, People of Color, Pride, Veterans and Wellbeing.
Its Human and Workforce Rights Policy, published in February 2026, states that the company provides training intended to maintain a healthy workplace and expects managers to maintain an environment free from harassment and discrimination.
Those disclosures show formal infrastructure around development and workplace conduct. They do not measure participation rates or promotion outcomes.
Where Career Marketing Outruns the Data
First Merchants’ careers page presents mentorship, leadership development and advancement opportunities, but it does not publish internal-promotion rates, average tenure by role or the number of employees entering management each year.
The company has also publicized workplace awards. In July 2026, First Merchants said it was included in TIME’s America’s Best Companies 2026 list, which recognized 1,000 companies, including 141 banks.
Awards can reflect employee surveys, financial performance and sustainability criteria, depending on the ranking. They do not replace workforce measures.
The harder numbers are the 2,086 full-time-equivalent employees and 18% turnover disclosed in the 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The interpretive conclusion is mixed: First Merchants shows evidence of a structured development system, but its public reporting does not establish how frequently employees advance through it. The company discloses retention performance, yet it does not publish the role-level detail needed to distinguish healthy mobility from recurring front-line churn.
Expansion Creates Openings, Not a Guaranteed Growth Pattern
First Merchants described itself in July 2026 as a $21 billion-asset financial institution serving Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
Its February 2026 acquisition added 16 southern Indiana banking centers.
An acquisition can produce hiring in some markets and consolidation in others. Branch staff may be retained, reporting structures may change and overlapping corporate functions may be combined. The public sources reviewed did not provide a post-integration job count or a commitment to add a specific number of positions.
Growth of the bank is not identical to growth of every occupation inside it.
BLS expects fewer tellers and new accounts clerks nationally, while banks continue to need staff in risk, lending, cybersecurity, compliance, data and relationship management. First Merchants’ careers page itself references backgrounds that include cybersecurity and project management, suggesting that its employee base extends well beyond banking-center work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many employees does First Merchants have?
First Merchants Corporation reported 2,086 full-time-equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025 in its 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The figure predates its February 2026 acquisition of First Savings Financial Group.
What was First Merchants’ turnover rate?
18% in 2025.
Does First Merchants provide employee training?
The company publicly lists mentorship, training, leadership opportunities, career development and tuition reimbursement. It does not publish participation rates or dollar limits for those programs on the reviewed careers page.
Can a teller move into another banking position?
BLS says financial-service support workers may advance into related finance occupations. Its Financial Clerks profile specifically notes that a loan interviewer or clerk may become a loan officer after obtaining the required education or license.
Are bank teller jobs disappearing?
BLS projects a 13% decline from 2024 to 2034, equal to 44,900 fewer teller positions. It also projects 29,800 annual openings because workers will leave the occupation or labor force.
Does First Merchants offer tuition reimbursement?
Yes. The company lists tuition reimbursement under its employee career-development benefits, but the public page does not disclose a maximum reimbursement amount or eligibility waiting period.
Does First Merchants promote from within?
First Merchants advertises mentorship, career development and leadership opportunities, but the reviewed public materials do not provide an internal-promotion percentage. Claims about the likelihood or speed of promotion would therefore go beyond the published evidence.
The public record shows a bank investing in development while operating inside an industry that is reducing routine clerical work. First Merchants’ career ladder appears most defensible where employees move from transaction processing toward judgment, relationship management, regulated lending or specialized corporate work.
