13000 Officers Post Vacant in Bank of Baroda! Officers raise voice against Staff Shortage and Toxic Work Culture

The All India Bank of Baroda Officers’ Union (AIBOBOU) has once again raised serious concerns about the shortage of staff, especially officers, in the bank. The union says there is a shortfall of nearly 13,000 officers, which has resulted in employees being overburdened, facing work imbalance, and struggling with a collapsing work-life balance. This has also led to the mental and physical health of officers getting badly affected.

The union has written a letter to the MD&CEO of Bank of Baroda and said that instead of solving this manpower problem, the bank’s executives are increasing the stress by holding long video conferences during the day and review meetings late in the evening or at night, often on unrealistic targets. The union warns that this practice has already led to serious and even fatal incidents:

• Late Shri Manish Chandra, Senior Manager in Ajmer Region, died in a road accident after returning late at night from a bank audit meeting, which was held on a holiday. His widow is still waiting for a compassionate job from the bank.
• Shri Rahul Kumar Pal, an officer in Lalganj Branch, Raebareilly, met with a serious accident on 23rd June 2025. Shockingly, the bank admitted under RTI that no inquiry was conducted into the incident.
• Late Shri Shiv Shankar Mitra, Chief Manager of Baramati Branch (Pune), died by suicide inside the branch, leaving behind a note pleading not to impose unbearable pressures on officers.

The union says that these are warning signs that the current working conditions are no longer sustainable. These incidents show that the work culture of Bank of Baroda is deteriorating and Bank urgently needs to improve its work environment.

Moreover, an RTI was filed to know about the guidelines of Bank of Baroda towards conduct of online meetings. In the RTI reply, Bank of Baroda admitted that:

• There are no guidelines for the maximum duration of video conferences.
• There is no fixed time for scheduling such meetings.
• There are no restrictions on holding meetings after office hours or late into the night.
• There is no cap on the number of branches included in a single meeting, which often forces staff to remain logged in for hours without any meaningful participation.

Click here to read Bank of Baroda RTI Reply on Online Meetings

This has left officers mentally stressed, physically exhausted, and suffering from depression and other health issues. The fear of management is so widespread that even applying for a casual leave feels risky. The union says that the dignity and safety of officers are being compromised daily.

The situation has reached a breaking point. If urgent steps are not taken, it could lead to more human tragedies, damage the bank’s reputation, and create industrial unrest.

The union has put forward following demands to improve the situation:

1. Recruit more staff immediately through new hiring, promotions, and redeployment.
2. Restrict meetings to office hours only and set a time limit. Ban late-night meetings.
3. Issue safety protocols and make the bank accountable in case of accidents linked to late-night work.
4. Create a monitoring system to regularly check workload, mental health, and safety conditions.
5. Train and guide senior executives to respect officers’ dignity, work-life balance, and human limitations.

The union said the tragic cases of Manish Chandra, Shiv Shankar Mitra, and Rahul Kumar Pal are reminders of the heavy human cost already paid. It warned that the management would be guilty of negligence if such incidents are allowed to happen again.

The union has also forwarded this representation to the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, and to the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), New Delhi, seeking their intervention.