Private Banks Trim Staff, Public & Small Finance Banks Expand

Mumbai: Private sector banks reported a decline in the total number of employees in FY25, while their government-owned peers saw a marginal increase, data released by the RBI showed on Monday. The overall banking system's employees increased primarily on the back of additions by small finance banks, according to the data. The number of employees engaged by public sector banks increased to 7,57,641 from 7,56,015 in the year-ago period, while the same for private sector banks declined to 8,38,150 from 8,45,407 employees in FY24, the data showed.

The banking system employees increased to 18.08 lakh from 17.87 lakh in the year-ago period, it said, adding that a growth of nearly 16,000 employees at small finance banks, which now have 1.77 lakh people on their rolls, helped the staff number. Among major lenders, SBI reported an increase in the overall employees to 2,36,226 from 2,32,296 a year ago, while HDFC Bank's base increased marginally to 2,14,521 in FY25 from 2,13,527 in FY24, the RBI said.

ICICI Bank, the country's second-largest lender among the private sector banks, showed a sharp decline in employees to 1,30,957 from 1,41,009 in FY24, the RBI said. Among SFBs, SU Small Finance Bank is the largest employer with a base of 50,946 staffers. The bank, being given an in-principle nod to convert into a universal lender, had 29,738 employees as of FY24-end, while Fincare SFB, an entity which got merged with it starting April 1, 2024, had 15,329 employees.

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