There is a need to add more jobs at the clerical level considering the increasing pressure at the branch level, highlighted by the Bank unions.
Reducing Headcounts In Public Sector Banks
During such times, it is alarming that India’s public sector banks (PSBs) reduced their employee count by a collective 11,154 in fiscal year 2024, as highlighted in an analysis of eight banks’ annual reports.
Country’s State Bank of India (SBI) reported the highest reduction, 3,562, or 1.5 percent of total employees among the eight PSBs.
After that the Bank of Baroda witnessed a reduction of 2,607 employees, scoring the next highest.
This lender had a total workforce of 75,515 employees in FY24.
Interestingly, the job reductions were mostly seen at the associate level.
Consider the case of SBI, its associate-level employee count reduced to 92,514 in FY24 from 94,977 in FY23.
Similarly, its peer Punjab National Bank’s sub-staff level employee count reduced to 22,781 in FY24 from 23,827 in FY23.
Reduced Hiring In Low-level Operation Roles
When it comes to the Associate jobs, it mostly includes sales employees in the field and some staff on the branch level.
The hiring at the associate and low level at PSBs is expected to slow down in this fiscal year, said the bank executives.
Their focus would be more on digital operations for the front-end communication, which could lead to a drop-off in hiring in low-level operation roles, said some PSB executives in April 2024, in a media report.
Further adding, “We are investing in digital methods which have given us good results. Basic functions like query handling and collection at times have been successfully happening digitally. Maybe employee hiring for these roles will not happen aggressively.”
One of the executives said that some functions are expected to stay offline but the bank is looking to boost its digital services.
The general secretary, All India Bank Officers’ Confederation, Rupam Roy said,“There is a need to increase more manpower in PSBs as they are catering to a large number of customers. On average, an employee in a PSB handles 1,000-2,000 customers whereas the same with private banks is around 400-500.”
