India public sector banks to employ over 400,000

Hiring spree is prompted by the fact that a large chunk of 1mn PSB employees will retire in the next two years.

Hiring by public sector banks is expected to cross the four lakh (400,000) mark in the next couple of years as lenders prepare for a huge wave of retirement of employees recruited during a major expansion drive in late 70s and early 80s. In addition to replacement retirees, banks are also hiring to replace attrition among fresh recruits and to fill positions in new branches. 

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, M V Nair, chairman, IBPS and chairman, Union Bank of India, said that banks will have openings for over four lakh jobs in coming years. At present, public sector bank employees number almost one million but a large chunk of them will retire in the next two years. Nair said that a spike in attrition was expected because of lumping of recruitments in the late 70s and early 80s following nationalization and expansion of banking services into the hinterland. 

According to M D Mallya, chairman, Indian Banks Association, for banks the challenge is not just to get the people but also to hire right. "There is little evidence to show that we will be able to move out non-performers," he said. Mallya, who is also the chairman of Bank of Baroda, said that his bank was looking to recruit 4,000-4,500 employees during the current fiscal. 

Among the large banks State Bank of India, which hired over 20,000 people last year, is set to hire over 7,000 more this fiscal. Union Bank plans to add another 3,400 to its headcount. Most of these numbers are based on growth plans. Union Bank plans to add 400 branches and State Bank ofIndia plans to add another 1,000 branches this fiscal. 

Identifying human resources as a challenge, the government has set up a committee headed by Anil Khandelwal, the former chairman of Bank of Baroda. The Khandelwal committee had recommended radical measures which included increasing the retirement age and scrapping the practice of wage negotiations with unions. 

Subsequently the government appointed a committee headed by Atul Nigam, joint secretary, ministry of finance, to look into the implementation of the earlier report. Nair is a member of both panels. "The government has decided to go in for a joint examination for all public sector banks which will make recruitment more efficient," said Nair. 

View the full story in Times of India.