Public sector banks to hire about 50,000 manpower in current fiscal

Public sector banks will recruit around 50,000 personnel in FY25, including 21,000 officers. SBI alone plans 20,000 hires. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry urged PSBs to prepare subsidiaries for future IPOs by enhancing governance and operational efficiency for better monetisation

New Delhi: Public sector banks will recruit about 50,000 manpower during the ongoing financial year to meet their growing business requirement and expansion. Of the total fresh recruitment, about 21,000 would be officers and remaining would be staff including clerks, as per data collated from various banks.

Of the 12 public sector banks, the biggest player State Bank of India (SBI) is going to employ close to 20,000 including specialised officers in the financial year.

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Initiating the process, SBI has already hired 505 Probationary Officers (POs) and 13,455 junior associates to enhance customer experience at its branches across the country. The recruitment of 13,455 junior associates is aimed to fill vacancies across 35 States and Union Territories.

The total staff strength of SBI stood at 2,36,226 as of March 2025. Of this, 1,15,066 officers were on the rolls of the bank at the end of last fiscal. Average hiring cost per full-time employee for 2024-25 was Rs 40,440.59.

SBI has a consistent track record of having attrition below 2 per cent each year, which is the result of the best-in-class engagement and welfare practices.

Country’s second biggest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) intends to increase its headcount to over 5,500 in the current financial year. As of March 2025, PNB has a total staff strength of 1,02,746.

Another State-owned lender Central Bank of India plans to recruit about 4,000 employees during the current financial year.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has asked PSBs to look at monetising their investment in subsidiaries by listing them at bourses after further scaling up operations so that they realise good return.

There are about 15 subsidiaries or joint ventures of PSBs lined up for initial public offering or divestment in medium to long term, sources said.

Wherever required, banks should invest funds to scale up operations of their subsidiaries or joint ventures, sources said, adding, banks can look at unlocking value at an opportune time.

As a precursor to monetisation, sources said, banks should improve governance, professional decision-making and bring in greater operational efficiency in their subsidiaries.