Deutsche Bank has upped its annual intake of university graduates to a post-financial crisis high, even as the German lender strips out 18,000 jobs in a heavy restructuring of its global business.

Around 900 graduates joined Deutsche as analysts in September, James von Moltke, the bank’s chief financial officer, said on a third-quarter earnings call on October 30. This figure is up around 16% on last year and the highest for an annual recruitment round since 2008, according to a person familiar with the matter.