Private sector lenders have upped their hiring mandate by 25% for more field staff besides junior- and mid-management executives with the ability to convince customers to invest in bank fixed deposits, executives at recruiting firms said.
“The hiring sentiment is far stronger than expected with an over 25% rise in demand for field staff from banking clients over the last quarter. We have now created a dedicated team to drive innovative sourcing methods to close the required job mandates," said Manu Saigal, director for general staffing at staffing firm Adecco.
Banks are rebadging resources from sectors like hospitality and insurance, to meet the demands of their banking clients, Saigal said. The salaries range from ₹13,000-15,000 a month with additional incentives, he added.
Increasing digital access and growing awareness about mutual funds and stock investments have lured customers away from bank FDs in pursuit of higher returns, according to an analysis by Bank of Baroda’s research division in October.
While covid-era ultra-accommodative monetary policy by Reserve Bank of India left banks flush with liquidity with little incentive to raise deposit rates, there is a greater focus on deposit growth right now.
In fact, the lending boom to retail clients, small businesses, and corporates in the face of slowing deposit growth led to a widening gap between deposit and credit growth by over 700 basis points (bps). Experts said trailing deposit growth, along with the central bank’ decision to unwind some covid-era policies, acted as a wake-up call and banks have now turned to sourcing more deposits.
For the fortnight ended 18 November, bank credit growth was at 17.6% from a year earlier while deposit growth was at 9.6%, showed RBI data.
The push for more deposits has put pressure on both private and public sector bank employees. In fact, in November, the regional office of a public sector bank had issued an advisory to all branches in the region to not sanction fresh leaves to employees, except for an emergency, to ensure that the December quarter targets are achieved.
“So far, managements were pushing staff to disburse more loans. That has now changed to more deposits. The pressure has increased as targets have been revised upwards, but is still within boundaries. However, if there is excess pressure from bank managements, we will take it up," said C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary of All India Bank Employees Association.
That said, bank deposit rates are rising and is at over 7% for term deposits. According to a note by ICICI Securities, following RBI’s cumulative repo rate hike of 225 bps since May, the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR)—an internal rate benchmark of banks—was up by 105-130 bps for leading banks. The report said on 7 December, banks also raised deposit rates across all maturity buckets with retail term deposit rates rising 110-130 bps to 6.25-7.00%.
“Wholesale peak term deposit rates have settled in the range of 6.5-7% for leading private banks. With another 35-bps repo rate hike, and given that deposit growth is lagging credit growth, deposit rates will be further increased," it added.
Demand has also led to the need for middle management staff. “There is an uptick in hiring for product-based roles in CASA, retail deposits and digital channel-based roles," Upasana Agarwal, national practice director, BFSI, fintech, private equity and professional services, for recruitment firm ABC Consultants said.
