SBI Plans to Recruit from Campuses on Contract Basis

The country's largest bank, State Bank of India, is planning to recruit from campuses for entry-level jobs on a contract basis, its chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya said.

To tide over the difficulties in giving market-linked salaries by the government-owned bank, "we try to explain even if they go to other banks their propensity of changing (jobs) is quite high. If they get 5 years or 6 years with SBI or SBICap, it offers a good training for them," she said. (Watch Video)

According to an estimate, around 80,000 vacancies are expected to open at top public sector banks in the country, including SBI, as a large number of officers and staff will retire over the next two years.

The bank is recruiting specialists like legal, IT, chartered accountant professionals at a "higher level so we are able to give them higher salary," she said.

Being a government-owned bank, SBI is facing several human resource challenges, Ms Bhattacharya said. Poaching of its staff, particularly at the middle level, by the private sector, is one of the major issues, she said.

SBI is also trying to bring staff originally recruited by its subsidiaries, which offer higher salaries.

"We are trying to see if our subsidiaries can recruit and depute to us. For example, in respect to cash management product we have a total range of people who are actually recruited by our subsidiaries and deputed to us so that we have market-linked salaries for them," she said.

SBI is also pitching for employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) for higher management to make them committed to stay longer, she said.

The SBI chief said its inability to offer market-linked salaries at higher level is hurting the bank.

"Up to scale 3, PSU banks (salaries) are quite competitive. It is when they become scale 5 and 6 they come toward the end of the (salary) range. After scale 6, they just fall off. ," she added.

"We have observed that when the better of the scale 3 officers become scale 4 and 5 and they become easy pickings for private bank. Two things are normally promised to them - posting at their place of choice and a little bit extra salary.

Posting at place of choice is something the private sector do. We are not able to do it well as we have pan-India operations. And in some areas you don't get people," she added.

Ms Bhattacharya said because its employees have such diverse exposure, they will remain valued in the market.

She cited the example of a dealer who used to work with the bank earlier. "She is now in the US, working with a leading foreign bank. She was here with her boss who said that 'what I like most about her is that she is the only dealer who understands banking," the SBI chief said.

Ms Bhattacharya was with speaking Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan at an interactive session in a banking conclave in Mumbai.