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Bank jobs, a top priority for many job-seekers, may lose their sheen in the days to come due to the macro-economic challenges being faced by public sector banks.
The number of vacancies at public sector banks, in the range of 30,000-50,000 for the last seven years, is now expected to come down, according to bankers.
“The young work force, hired in recent years, is quite adequate for a few more years to come. Keeping this in mind, along with the dip in retirements and changing need for different roles, we can say that recruitment is going to stabilise,” Mritunjay Mahapatra, Managing Director and CEO, Syndicate Bank, told BusinessLine .
Syndicate Bank, in particular, and public sector banks, in general, are likely to face a slowdown in hiring of freshers, he said, adding that the focus on recruitment was shifting towards specialists in marketing, risk management and information technology (IT), he added.
Recent trends at PSBs reflect this, with the number of employees dwindling in the case of some major banks. At State Bank of India (SBI), the total number of employees decreased from 2,79,803 in March 2017 to 2,64,041 as on March 2018. While 18,973 retired in FY18, only 3,211 entered the workforce.
“We expect the same trend to continue this financial year too,” said a senior official, adding that full-year numbers will be released only after March 2019. However, the closing staff of SBI at the end of first quarter of FY19 came down to 259,980 from 273,181 in the previous year.
Consolidation
Consolidation in the banking sector will also lead to optimisation of workforce and branches over the next two years. “This will take banks away from the position of top recruiters over the next three years, surely,” said the CEO of a public sector bank.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Banking Personal Selection (IBPS) has released the calendar for the year 2019. This includes recruitment for the posts of probationary officers, specialist officers, and clerks to be held during October-December 2019.
The number of vacancies, however, will depend on the indent to be given by individual bank to the IBPS, which is the recruiting agency for some PSBs.
Other career options
The dip in bank vacancies may lead to a search for other career options. The number of candidates registered with the IBPS for clerical jobs declined from 20.31 lakh in FY17 to 19.67 lakh in FY18. For probationary officer/management trainee posts, registrations were down from 19.67 lakh to 11.27 lakh. A similar trend is seen for specialist officer posts as well.
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