Dynamics and Analysis of Employee Efficiency in Commercial Banks of Uzbekistan

The effect of human capital utilization on the operational performance of banking sector can be captured using one of the most important indicators of human capital utilization and competitiveness, namely employee efficiency, which is often measured in profit per employee. Uzbekistan's digital transformation and foreign bank entry have changed operational models. However, can we say that this has made our employees more efficient? Existing studies in the literature on Uzbekistan banking sector mainly either discuss banking system wide profitability as well as stability or focus on total factors of efficiency (TE) at the bank ownership level. This research aims to analyze efficiency of employee in commercial banks of Uzbekistan by means of both ownership type comparison (state vs. private) and performance clustering using statistics and cluster analysis methods for a period of 2020–2023. Results indicate that foreign bank employees earned the highest profit per employee, while state-owned banks are always the least efficient. Private and joint stock banks yielded middling results but that improved somewhat over time. Differences between foreign and local banks were tested using ANOVA, while four different performance groups were identified with a cluster analysis from elite countries with a very high efficiency rate to extremely inefficient institutions. It is the first systematic and data-driven analysis of employee efficiency in the banking system of Uzbekistan, revealing the relationship between ownership structure and employee efficiency, as well as the effect of digital transformation. The findings highlight the need for foreign bank best practice adoption, improvement of employee training, and facilitation of technological modernization to improve employee functionality and national banking sector competitiveness.