Federal Bank estimates that it may need to hire between 1,200 and 1,400 people this year.

Last year, Federal Bank added 207 branches. The plan this year is for anywhere between 150 and 200 branches. However, the actual opening of that many branches will be contingent upon how the economic environment plays out and the performance of the recently opened branches, Mr Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director and CEO, Federal Bank, told Business Line .

Assuming that each branch would require to be manned by four people and taking into account the number of people who retire, the bank estimates that it would need to recruit at least 1,200, he said.

Federal Bank today has 9,100 employees. “Around 4,200 of them are under 30 years of age; another 3,000 of them are over 30 years in experience,” Mr Srinivasan said, describing the profile of the bank’s employees.

In a few weeks, Federal Bank will cross a milestone in terms of number of branches — 1,000. It currently has 978 branches.

Mr Srinivasan said that the bank derives natural benefits by being Kerala-headquartered — it enjoys a substantial share of the remittances business. Last year, Non-Resident Indians sent Rs 24,000 crore, or 7.5 per cent of India’s inward remittances, through Federal Bank.

Mr Srinivasan said that while the ‘NRE account’ does not give any advantages in terms of interest rates, the deposits flowing into the accounts are still attractive, because they are retail (non-bulk) sources of foreign currency denominated deposits. He said that the bank would benefit from the depreciation of the rupee seen in the recent times. The bank typically sees a surge in deposits at times when the rupee dips and then starts appreciating again.

>mramesh@thehindu.co.in

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