State Bank of India plans to recruit around 16,000 employees a year as part of a multi-year expansion strategy, chairman C. S. Setty said, signalling one of the most significant workforce additions by a major lender in recent years. The move is aimed at strengthening operations, improving customer service and supporting branch growth across the country.
Setty told reporters, as cited by local media, that SBI intends to maintain this pace of hiring beyond the current financial year. The bank employed about 2.36 lakh people as of March 2025, meaning the annual intake will add meaningful capacity to a workforce already spread across officer, associate and subordinate roles. Women accounted for roughly 28 per cent of total staff.
The hiring push coincides with a renewed branch expansion plan. SBI will open between 200 and 300 branches in FY26, focusing on micro-markets, emerging residential clusters and underserved regions identified through its internal assessments. Executives said the expansion is designed to increase accessibility and deepen the bank’s presence in semi-urban and rural areas where credit and service demand remains strong.
SBI’s manpower investment has already begun to reflect in its cost structure. Employee expenses rose 11 per cent in the first half of FY26 to ₹36,837 crore, according to financial disclosures. Analysts said the increase underlines the bank’s effort to reinforce frontline operations at a time when competition for deposits, retail customers and digital adoption is intensifying.
Setty also outlined plans to strengthen SBI’s ATM network through its wholly owned subsidiary, State Bank Operations Support Services. The unit will deploy “ATM Mitras” to oversee uptime, cleanliness and maintenance across more than 60,000 machines. It will additionally support government schemes and handle field sourcing for agriculture and small business applications. SBI intends to place around 6,000 support staff in branches to improve on-ground coordination.
For job seekers, the bank’s sustained hiring plan offers a steady pipeline of opportunities, particularly in clerical, probationary officer and specialist roles. The addition of 200–300 branches next year is expected to further increase staffing requirements, especially in customer-facing functions.
SBI’s expansion drive comes as Indian banks compete to grow physical and digital reach simultaneously. The scale of SBI’s planned intake suggests the lender expects continued loan growth and rising transaction volumes into FY26. Investors will be watching whether branch expansion and manpower additions translate into improved service metrics and stronger market share over the medium term.