Byline: Graham Ellis, labor reporter covering regional banks and financial-services employers for 12 years
Last reviewed: June 28, 2026

FirstMerchants is best understood as First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank, a regional banking employer whose 2025 Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees. The retention story is sharper than the salary story: the company reported an 18 percent turnover rate in 2025, while its first-quarter 2026 results included $17.0 million of acquisition costs tied partly to employee retention bonuses and severance.

That combination matters. It shows an employer with formal people systems, real churn, and merger-related labor costs moving through the financial statements.

What FirstMerchants is as an employer

First Merchants Corporation is the public financial holding company behind First Merchants Bank. Its investor profile describes it as the largest financial holding company based in Central Indiana, with more than 111 banking center locations in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, a wealth management company, and $21.1 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2026.

That places FirstMerchants in the regional-bank labor market. It competes for branch service workers, personal bankers, loan officers, credit analysts, commercial bankers, treasury staff, wealth employees, operations workers, risk and compliance staff, technology employees, and managers.

Retention does not mean the same thing in every role. Keeping a commercial banker is not the same problem as keeping a service associate. Keeping a credit analyst is not the same problem as staffing a teller window. The public data has to be read with that role split in mind.

The headline workforce number

The First Merchants Corporation 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025. That figure gives the company enough scale for formal HR systems, benefit plans, succession planning, training programs, executive pay-ratio disclosure, and acquisition integration.

It is also small enough that local markets matter. A regional bank operating in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio does not hire in one national labor pool. Branch staffing, credit talent, commercial banking relationships, and operations roles can be shaped by city, county, competitor pay, commute, and manager quality.

This is the first analytical point: FirstMerchants is big enough to have structure, but not so big that local labor pressure disappears. That is where retention becomes a practical business issue rather than an HR slogan.

Turnover: what 18 percent tells readers

First Merchants reported an overall turnover rate of 18 percent in 2025 in its Form 10-K. The same filing said the company had a goal of keeping turnover at 20 percent or lower.

That number is more useful than a general careers-page promise. It shows actual employee movement. An 18 percent rate means the bank must keep replacing, training, and onboarding workers even if total headcount is not exploding.

The number has limits. The filing does not break the turnover rate into voluntary and involuntary exits. It does not show turnover by branch, state, department, tenure, or job family. A high branch-service exit rate and a low commercial-lending exit rate would tell a different story from a flat 18 percent across all groups. Public readers do not get that detail.

The fair reading is narrower: FirstMerchants met its stated turnover goal in 2025, but turnover was still a meaningful feature of the workforce.

Engagement: useful, but company-defined

The 2025 Form 10-K said 65 percent of employees were considered “highly engaged” in the company’s biennial Employee Engagement Survey, with an 85 percent response rate.

The response rate helps. An 85 percent response rate means the survey captured a large part of the workforce. The 65 percent highly engaged figure suggests a majority-positive result under the company’s survey method.

But “highly engaged” is not a BLS labor statistic. It is a company-defined survey outcome. It cannot be compared cleanly against another bank unless the questions, scoring, thresholds, timing, and employee mix are known.

Here is the tension: FirstMerchants reported a majority highly engaged workforce and an 18 percent turnover rate in the same reporting year. Those two facts can coexist. Engagement can be positive while entry-level roles churn, acquisitions disrupt teams, or employees leave for higher pay elsewhere.

Training and succession planning

First Merchants reported 99.7 percent completion of required training in 2025. The Form 10-K also said more than 1,500 employees participated in the annual calibration process, a 9-box talent assessment used for succession and career planning. More than 55 employees participated in education assistance in 2025.

Those details make the workforce story more concrete. Required training completion near 100 percent signals compliance discipline. The 9-box calibration process signals a formal review system. Education assistance shows a benefit that was actually used by employees, not just listed.

Small number, real signal.

The education-assistance figure should not be inflated. More than 55 participants out of 2,086 full-time equivalent employees is measurable, but not broad enough to suggest most workers used the benefit. It may reflect eligibility rules, employee demand, awareness, role mix, or program design.

This is the second analytical point: FirstMerchants has documented retention and development tools, but the public numbers do not prove fast advancement for the typical employee.

Why branch roles face retention pressure

BLS May 2024 data reported a $39,340 median annual wage for tellers. BLS also projected teller employment to decline 13 percent from 2024 to 2034. That makes teller-style work one of the weaker long-term labor categories around bank employment.

For FirstMerchants, teller and service associate roles are likely to be important entry points. They teach customer service, cash handling, compliance habits, account basics, and branch operations. They also sit close to a labor market where pay ceilings can be narrow and job alternatives are common.

A person in branch service can compare FirstMerchants with another bank, a credit union, a call center, an insurance office, retail management, local administration, or remote customer support. That creates retention pressure even when the employer has benefits and training.

The pay market explains part of the churn. Lower-wage roles are easier to leave when another employer offers a modest hourly increase, better scheduling, or a shorter commute.

Why lending and credit are different

BLS May 2024 data reported a $74,180 median annual wage for loan officers. That is $34,840 above the BLS teller median. The loan officer occupation also has a different work profile: customer relationships, credit judgment, documentation, production, underwriting coordination, compliance, and market sensitivity.

Credit and lending roles are usually harder to replace than routine transaction roles. A trained credit analyst or experienced lender carries institutional knowledge, customer knowledge, and risk judgment. Losing that worker can affect revenue, portfolio quality, client relationships, and internal workflow.

This does not mean every lending role is highly paid. Pay varies by product, market, incentive structure, and seniority. But the labor market is different enough that retention cannot be discussed as one company-wide problem.

A single turnover percentage hides the expensive exits.

Acquisition costs change the 2026 picture

First Merchants’ first-quarter 2026 earnings release reported net income available to common stockholders of $27.7 million, compared with $54.9 million in the same quarter of 2025. The release said current-quarter results included $17.0 million of acquisition costs, primarily employee retention bonuses and severance, contract termination charges, and professional fees.

That sentence belongs in a labor article. Retention bonuses and severance are direct workforce costs. They usually appear when companies want selected employees to remain through integration, while other roles may be duplicated, eliminated, or reorganized.

Do not read those costs as ordinary pay. They are transition costs.

The acquisition context makes FirstMerchants’ retention story more complicated in 2026. A bank merger can create openings, reduce duplicate jobs, protect key employees, change managers, move systems, and create uncertainty for workers. Public filings show the cost category, but not the employee-level experience.

Benefits as a retention tool

First Merchants’ public benefits materials list a 401(k)-style retirement plan, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, educational assistance, health coverage, prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, wellness, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage, paid time off, holidays, bereavement, accident insurance, and critical care insurance.

The SEC filings page also lists an 11-K filing for employee stock purchase, savings, and similar plans, the document type normally used for annual benefit-plan reporting.

The clearest retirement comparison is the employer match language reported in First Merchants plan materials: up to 4.5 percent of eligible compensation, based on 100 percent of the first 3 percent of employee contributions and 50 percent of contributions above 3 percent and below 6 percent.

A percentage match is more valuable in dollars at higher pay. At the BLS teller median of $39,340, a 4.5 percent match equals about $1,770 if an eligible employee contributes enough to receive the full match. At the BLS loan officer median of $74,180, it equals about $3,338.

Same formula. Different retention value.

Proxy pay and the median employee

The First Merchants Corporation 2026 Proxy Statement reported a new median employee for pay-ratio purposes and said the employee population totaled 2,011 after omitting the CEO. The proxy also reported CEO total compensation and median employee total compensation under SEC pay-ratio rules.

That disclosure is useful for company-wide compensation context, but it is not a wage scale. A proxy median employee figure can include compensation elements beyond base pay and comes from a rule-based calculation. It does not say what a teller, personal banker, credit analyst, or branch manager earns.

The better use is comparative. A proxy median can show where the company’s middle employee sits under SEC methodology. BLS data shows where occupations sit nationally. Glassdoor-style salary pages can show self-reported role estimates. Each source answers a different question.

Retention analysis breaks when those sources are merged into one “average salary.”

Retention risk by role family

Branch service roles face wage and outlook pressure. BLS projected teller employment decline, and the median wage sits near the lower end of bank-adjacent work. Retention in those roles often depends on schedule, manager quality, local wage competition, benefits, and whether employees see a path upward.

Financial clerk and personal banker roles sit one step higher. BLS May 2024 data reported $48,650 median annual pay for financial clerks, but projected employment decline of 5 percent from 2024 to 2034. That makes the category better-paid than teller work, but still under pressure.

Lending, credit, treasury, wealth, risk, and technology roles are different. They involve more judgment, client relationship value, compliance knowledge, systems knowledge, and revenue or risk impact. Replacement costs can be higher.

Management roles carry their own retention problem. A banking center manager or department manager holds local performance together. Losing that person can affect staffing, compliance, sales, customer service, and team morale.

Where the headline retention story misleads

A soft version of the story would say FirstMerchants has benefits and career development. The harder version is more useful.

The company reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees, 18 percent turnover, 65 percent highly engaged employees, an 85 percent engagement survey response rate, 99.7 percent required-training completion, more than 1,500 employees in annual calibration, and more than 55 education-assistance participants. It also reported acquisition costs in 2026 that included employee retention bonuses and severance.

Those facts point to a structured employer with active workforce management. They do not point to a frictionless workplace.

The practical observation is that FirstMerchants retention likely depends on role movement. Service and clerical workers need a credible path into higher-value banking work. Skilled lenders, credit staff, treasury workers, wealth employees, risk workers, technology staff, and managers need enough compensation and stability to stay through market and acquisition cycles.

Data limits

BLS data is national occupational data, not FirstMerchants payroll. SEC filings give company-level workforce and compensation disclosures, but they do not show turnover by job family, branch, manager, or state. Earnings releases show acquisition costs, not normal wage rates. Public benefits pages show categories, not employee premiums, deductibles, PTO accrual rates, vesting rules, or full eligibility timing.

Data reflects BLS May 2024 wages and outlook, First Merchants 2025 Form 10-K workforce reporting, and 2026 proxy and earnings disclosures. Local hiring conditions, acquisition integration, internal pay changes, and interest-rate cycles may shift the picture.

FAQ

What is FirstMerchants?

FirstMerchants usually refers to First Merchants Corporation and First Merchants Bank, a regional banking company with operations across Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

How many employees does FirstMerchants have?

The First Merchants Corporation 2025 Form 10-K reported 2,086 full-time equivalent employees as of December 31, 2025.

What is FirstMerchants turnover?

The 2025 Form 10-K reported an 18 percent turnover rate for 2025. The public filing does not break that down by department, role, state, or voluntary exit type.

What does BLS say comparable branch jobs pay?

BLS May 2024 data reported a $39,340 median annual wage for tellers and projected teller employment to decline 13 percent from 2024 to 2034.

Why do retention bonuses matter?

First Merchants’ first-quarter 2026 results said acquisition costs included employee retention bonuses and severance. That shows labor costs tied to merger integration, but it does not reveal normal wage rates.

Does First Merchants offer training and education benefits?

The 2025 Form 10-K reported 99.7 percent required-training completion and more than 55 employees participating in education assistance in 2025.

Is the 401(k) match useful for retention?

It can be. First Merchants plan materials describe a match of up to 4.5 percent of eligible compensation. The dollar value rises with pay, so it affects higher-paid roles differently from lower-paid roles.

What is the cleanest retention takeaway?

FirstMerchants looks like a structured regional-bank employer with measurable turnover, formal training, engagement tracking, and acquisition-related labor costs. The retention pressure is likely highest where pay ceilings are lower or merger uncertainty is higher.