SBI to hire over 14,000 people in 2020, dismisses claims of job cuts due to VRS
State Bank of India (SBI) said it has plans of recruiting more than 14,000 people this year. Earlier, the largest bank of the country had announced to bring voluntary retirement scheme i.e. VRS for more than 30 thousand employees. In a media statement the lender also clarified that its recent offering with regard to on tap voluntary retirement scheme should not be seen as an austerity measure.
The SBI said, "There have been media reports about the “On Tap VRS” scheme proposed to be introduced by SBI. The reports have been interpreted as a cost cutting measure and the Bank's intent to reduce workforce. Bank has been employee friendly and is expanding its operations and requires people, which is evidenced by the fact that the Bank has plans of recruiting more than 14,000 employees this year."
Existing workforce in SBI:
SBI said that it has an existing workforce of around 2.50 lacs and has been in the forefront of serving employee needs and designing ways and means for engaging and assisting employees in their life journey. In this backdrop, it was thought to provide a congenial solution to employees who expressed desire for making strategic shifts in their vocations, either due to professional growth limitations, mobility issues, physical health conditions or family situations.
"While our commitment towards our valued employees remains unshakable, we are deeply desirous of skilling the unemployed youth of the country, as is evidenced by the fact that we are the only Bank in the country which has onboarded Apprentices under the National Apprenticeship Scheme of Govt of India,” SBI concluded.
SBI VRS scheme:
State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) under which about 30,190 employees are eligible. A total of 11,565 officers and 18,625 staff will be able to apply for the SBI VRS scheme. SBI estimates that if 30 per cent of the total eligible employees also apply for VRS, it will help them save about 2,170.85 crore. As of March 2020, the State Bank employees a total of 2.49 lakh employees. A year ago this number was 2.57 lakh.
VRS scheme: Eligibility and Benefits
The VRS scheme will be opened to all permanent officers and staff who have put in 25 years of service or completed 55 years of age on the cut-off date.
The scheme will open on December 1 and will remain open till the end of February. As per the proposed eligibility criteria, a total of 11,565 officers and 18,625 staff members will be eligible for the scheme.
The total net savings for the bank would be Rs 1,662.86 crore if 30 per cent of eligible employees opt for retirement under the scheme.
What facilities will be available to employees taking VRS?
The bank said, 'Staff members who apply for VRS will be given 50 percent of the salary for the remaining period of service. This will be till the date of pension. Also, it will be for 18 months of the last salary. Apart from this, gratuity, pension, provident fund and medical facilities will be given to employees taking VRS. Staff retiring under the VRS scheme of SBI will be eligible to apply for a job in the bank again after a cooling period of 2 years.
