Headcount at state-owned banks slumps to lowest in 13 years, shows RBI data
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: The number of employees at India’s public sector banks is at its lowest in 13 years, showed latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), with mergers leading to slower branch expansion and many finding greener pastures elsewhere. Thirteen years ago, in FY11, public sector banks employed 755,102 people, while at the end of FY24, the number stood at 756,015, the RBI data showed.
These banks have lost about 12% of their employee base in the last seven years. Between FY17 and FY24, public sector banks lost more than 100,000 employees even as staff across the country's banking sector increased by nearly half a million, the data showed. Interestingly, private sector banks have doubled their staff count to 845,841 in the same period.
The number of employees in public sector banks was at its peak in FY17, when they had a total of 857,500 staff. These include three categories of employees: officers, clerks and sub-staff. Clerks are present in bank branches where they act as tellers, cashiers and are also responsible for filing documents.
They are also employed at administrative offices of banks, assisting officers. The primary difference between a clerk and an officer is the latter’s ability to sanction loans. Mint reported in September 2022 that the share of clerical jobs in India’s banking system has declined over the past years, from the highs of over 50% in the early ’90s to 22% as of FY21, showed the latest segregated bank employment data released by the Reserve Bank of India last week.
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