With 123,000 new employees in FY23, bank hiring to hit 10-year high

Indian banks experienced their highest hiring numbers in a decade during the last financial year (FY23), reaching 123,000 new employees, according to a report by The Economic Times (ET). The data was taken from the Reserve Bank of India. This hiring trend is expected to continue in the ongoing financial year (FY24), with private banks driving aggressive hiring across various functions to expand into tier 3 and rural areas. The highest annual net addition among banks was recorded in FY11 at 125,000, followed by 124,000 in FY12.

Regional bank expansion has led to the net headcount addition in FY23 jumping 61 per cent over FY22. The total employee count increased 7.4 per cent year-on-year, reaching a total of 1.76 million employees.

Contributing to this growth are top private banks, including HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank, and AU Bank. Among hires, high attrition rates and increased demand has been observed for relationship managers and branch network staff.

According to a study by ET, the top 15 private banks in India added 350 employees on average every working day of 2023. The average attrition rate for these banks has been 11 per cent over the last 12 months, with 70,000 replacement hiring. Axis Bank, alone is expected to grow its employee base by 7-8 per cent this financial year. HDFC, ICICI and Bandhan Bank cumulatively have added 40,000 employees in the first half of the financial year.

Following the observed trends, the banking sector is set to surpass the previous year's record and potentially achieve an all-time high in headcount growth.