Banks have been facing a steep rise in attrition, especially among frontline and junior staff, over the past two years.
According to Aon Consulting, the overall attrition rate in the banking sector between January and September 2022 was 24.7%.
It is largely widespread digitisation and re-assessment of life goals that have been the driving forces behind the trend.
HDFC Bank
Sashidhar Jagdishan, MD & CEO of HDFC Bank believes that the spike in attrition has to do with a post-Covid phenomenon.
In this phenomenon, youngsters, who typically occupy ‘non-supervisory staff’ positions including sales officers might have been prompted to “recalibrate what they want from their lives”.
“This has led to increased attrition across all sectors. It is a reality that all major employers are grappling with, especially in the BFSI sector,” said Jagdishan.
HDFC Bank’s overall attrition rate stands at 34.2%, and 39% is at the junior staff level.
Axis Bank
Axis Bank is witnessing attrition in the 33-35% range. However, it is lower in senior positions and the corporate office.
“Given the growth in the industry and the economy, there are ample opportunities available. We are accustomed to working with this level of attrition, and it is not a new phenomenon,” said Amitabh Chaudhry, MD & CEO of Axis Bank.
He further highlighted attrition to be a reality of the industry.
The issue can be addressed by hiring more fresh graduates and providing them with proper training to encourage longer tenures.
Yes Bank
At Yes Bank, the attrition at the staff level is around 43%.
“Our attrition is mainly concentrated on the sales side, which seems to be a trend observed across the industry.
We are taking this matter seriously, and ideally, we would like to see attrition rates at 25-30%.
We are closely examining and working on this area,” said Prashant Kumar, MD & CEO of Yes Bank.
Digital adoption
Sanjay Shetty, director of professional search & selection at Randstad India, opines that digitisation is one of the significant factors behind high attrition rates among frontline staff in the banking sector.
Emergence of automation and digitisation of banking processes has led to a change in skills and job profiles in demand.
For example, banks now focus on delivering on-the-go digital services, which leads to frontline positions in sales, loan assistance, and customer service being replaced by niche tech positions.
Hiring competition
Shetty also pointed out the intense competition in the sector, with bank vacancies spiking by 40-45% and hiring activities going up by 10-12% year-on-year.
This has led to a wide pool of multiple opportunities available for jobseekers who can afford to quit their present role.
“Most of the attrition is happening at the lower level. It means that the younger talent in the workforce is also leveraging the market situation to find better opportunities,” said Sumit Sabharwal, CEO of TeamLease HRtech.
Salary component
Most recruitment is from tier-1 and -2 cities, with monthly starting salaries between Rs 20,000-25,000.
Without a performance incentive component, the pay does not cover the cost of living, leading to higher attrition rates.
Hence it becomes easy for rivals to poach employees by offering them a 10-15 per cent pay hike.
RBI warning
RBI Deputy Governor MK Jain had cautioned back in May of operational risks to banks due to high attrition, lack of succession planning and skilling among other factors.
“Attrition and high employee turnover lead to loss of institutional knowledge, disruption in services and increased recruitment costs. Similarly, lack of succession planning, particularly for critical roles, can pose significant operational risks,” Jain had said.
