Public Sector Banks in India: The public sector banks (PSBs), along with Indian Railways, are among the largest employers in the country. Each year, thousands of vacancies are announced for recruitment across various posts and designations in PSBs. The recruitment process and number of openings vary from bank to bank.
Presently, 12 public sector banks are there in the country. These are – Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, UCO Bank and Union Bank of India.
How Public Sector Banks recruit employees
The PSBs are board-governed commercial entities. The requirement of manpower in each PSB is determined by the respective PSB keeping in view various factors including, business requirement, spread of activities, superannuation and other unplanned exits.
In a reply to Rajya Sabha on July 22, Minister of State in Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary said: “Appointment of officers and staff is done accordingly by the PSBs and it varies from year to year based on their requirements.”
What is the total number of employees in Public Sector Banks (PSB)
The Union Minister informed that as of March 31, 2025, 96 per cent of the required staff positions have been filled in line with business needs. He noted that the small proportion of gap is attributable to attrition on account of superannuation and other usual factors including unplanned exit. He further added that banks have hired 1,48,687 employees over the past five years.
“…during the last 5 years (FY 2020-25), banks have recruited 148687 employees and for the FY 2025-26, recruitment of 48570 employees is under way,” the union minister said.
Which are the top 10 public sector banks with highest number of employees
As per the available data for FY25, the State Bank of India has the highest number of employees at 2,36,221. It is followed by Punjab National Bank with 1,02,746 employees; Canara Bank with 81,260, Union Bank of India with 73,945; Bank of Baroda with 73,742; Bank of India with 50,564; Indian Bank with 39,778; Central Bank of India with 33,081; UCO Bank with 21,049; and Indian Overseas Bank with 20,966 employees.
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The details of the total number of employees during the last five years, year-wise and bank-wise, are as under:
Source: Public Sector Banks