Banks Not Getting Sufficient Staff! AIBEA Urges IBPS to Review its Recruitment Process for Bank Clerks

The All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) has written a letter to the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), urging it to review its recruitment process for Customer Service Assistants (clerical staff) in banks. The association has asked IBPS to enhance the panel of selected candidates to ensure banks receive enough staff to fill all vacant positions.

IBPS Not Supplying Enough Candidates to Banks

According to AIBEA, after the abolition of the Banking Service Recruitment Boards (BSRBs), the task of recruiting clerical staff and supplying candidates to banks was given to IBPS. While IBPS was expected to improve the recruitment system and handle lakhs of candidates efficiently, AIBEA says that in recent years, banks are not getting adequate candidates to fill their approved vacancies.

High Attrition and Low Joining Rate

AIBEA pointed out that although IBPS provides a list of selected candidates based on the number requested by banks, many candidates do not join after selection. Additionally, a large number of new recruits leave within a few months of joining, causing a high rate of attrition. Because of this, banks are unable to fill their planned clerical vacancies, affecting manpower planning and day-to-day branch operations.

Shortage of Staff and Rising Work Pressure

The association said that the shortage of staff in bank branches is causing severe manpower problems. Employees are under high stress and are unable to complete routine work within official working hours. This has led to frustration and dissatisfaction among employees, including both clerical staff and officers.

AIBEA stated that IBPS keeps a buffer of about 30% of selected candidates to replace those who don’t join or leave soon after joining. However, the union said this buffer is not enough because more than 50% of selected candidates either do not join or leave within a short time.

Banks Not Receiving Requested Replacements

AIBEA also highlighted that banks are not receiving enough replacement candidates from IBPS when there are dropouts or resignations.

• For example, one bank requested 1,200 replacements but received only 250 candidates.
• Another bank requested 800 replacements but got only 200 candidates.

Due to this shortfall, many vacancies remain unfilled, worsening the manpower shortage in branches.

Because of these unfilled vacancies, existing employees are struggling to manage the workload. This situation is creating stress and dissatisfaction among employees and affecting customer service.

AIBEA’s Suggestion to Improve the System

To solve the issue, AIBEA suggested that IBPS should maintain a larger panel of successful candidates and keep all waitlisted candidates valid till the end of the financial year. This would allow banks to get replacements whenever needed and fill all vacancies as per their manpower plans. AIBEA believes this step will not only help banks manage staffing better but also benefit unemployed youth who appear for IBPS exams by giving them a longer chance for appointment.

AIBEA said the present system needs a thorough review and requested IBPS to take urgent action to make the recruitment process more effective and responsive to the real needs of banks.