FY25 staff count: HDFC Bank adds just 994, ICICI Bank trims over 6K

Despite rise in number of branches, hiring slows

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, two of the country’s largest private-sector lenders, added very few employees to their workforce in 2024-25 (FY25), despite expanding their branch networks during the year.

 

In FY25, HDFC Bank added 994 employees to its workforce, totalling 214,521. In contrast, ICICI Bank saw a net reduction of 6,723 employees, with its total workforce declining to 129,177.

 

In 2023-24 (FY24), HDFC Bank had added over 40,305 employees to its workforce, following the addition of 31,646 employees in 2022-23 (FY23) and 21,483 in 2021-22 (FY22). In comparison, ICICI Bank added 9,240 employees in FY24, 20,816 in FY23, and 7,094 in FY22.

 

According to Suresh Ganapathy, head of financial services research at Macquarie Capital, the low addition to the workforce could be due to a combination of factors: banks extracting more productivity and efficiency, not replacing employees who resign or leave, and the growing role of artificial intelligence and technology in driving growth with greater efficiency.

 

He added that ICICI Bank has doubled its technology expenses as a percentage of overall operational expenses — from 5 per cent to 10.5 per cent over the past five years — and in absolute terms, the figure is up fourfold.

 

While the addition to the workforce in FY25 has been abysmally low, both banks have expanded their branch networks. In FY25, HDFC Bank added 717 branches, taking its total branch network to 9,455. In FY24, it added 917 branches, while in FY23, it added 1,479 branches, and in FY22, 734 branches.

 

In comparison, ICICI Bank added 460 branches in FY25, taking its total branch network to 6,983. This follows the addition of 623 branches in FY24, 482 in FY23, and 152 in FY22. 

 

HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank did not respond to an email seeking comments on their employee additions in FY25 at the time of going to press.

 

It remains to be seen if this is a broader trend across the banking sector, as major banks, including Axis Bank and State Bank of India (SBI), are yet to report their fourth-quarter earnings.

 

Meanwhile, data shows that SBI’s employee headcount has been coming down over the last five years. In FY20, the bank’s employee base stood at 249,448.

 

According to SBI’s annual report for FY24, the bank had an employee strength of 232,296 as of March 31, 2024, marking a drop of 17,152 employees over five years.

 

The decline in workforce is a broader trend seen across all state-owned banks.

 

According to Reserve Bank of India data, private sector banks’ employee strength has increased 2.78x over a decade (since 2013-14/FY14) and has surpassed that of the state-owned banks.

 

As of FY24, state-owned banks had an employee strength of 764,679, while private-sector banks employed 846,530 individuals. In FY14, state-owned banks had 842,813 employees, compared to 303,856 at private banks. Meanwhile, during FY14–FY24, the total employee strength of the banking industry has increased from 1.25 million to 1.87 million.