Among major lenders, SBI and HDFC Bank reported marginal increases, while ICICI Bank recorded a sharp decline in headcount. | Photo credits: iStock
According to the data, the number of employees in the banking system in general has increased mainly due to the additions by small finance banks.
The number of employees employed by public sector banks has increased to 7,57,641 from 7,56,015 in the year-ago period, while the same number in private sector banks fell to 8,38,150 from 8,45,407 employees in FY24, the data showed.
The number of employees in the banking system rose to 18.08 lakh from 17.87 lakh in the same period a year ago, adding that a growth of nearly 16,000 employees in small finance banks, which now have 1.77 lakh people on their rolls, helped boost the workforce.
Among major lenders, SBI reported an increase in total employees to 2,36,226 from 2,32,296 a year ago, while HDFC Bank’s base increased marginally from 2,13,527 in FY24 to 2,14,521 in FY25, the RBI said.
ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest lender among private sector banks, posted a sharp decline in employee headcount to 1,30,957 from 1,41,009 in FY24, the RBI said.
Among the SFBs, SU Small Finance Bank is the largest employer with a workforce of 50,946 employees. The bank, which was in principle mandated to transform into a universal lender, had 29,738 employees at the end of FY24, while Fincare SFB, an entity that was merged with it on April 1, 2024, had 15,329 employees.
Published on December 30, 2025
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