713 SBI Probationary Officers Resign in Five Years, Unearths RTI

In a startling disclosure through a Right to Information (RTI) request, the State Bank of India (SBI) has witnessed the resignation of a staggering 713 Probationary Officers (POs) during the fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Image: The RTI information on the Number of PO Resignations in the SBI

The preceding section of the same RTI also sheds light on the number of fresh recruits entering the ranks of SBI as POs in the last five fiscal years.

Image: RTI information on the Number of POs joined the SBI in last 5 FY

The document revealed that of the 9,032 POs who joined during this period, a concerning 713 chose to bid farewell, sparking concerns about the bank's retention strategies.

The RTI points to the frequent recurrence of instances that have been facing the ire of the banking community.

Unfolding Controversies within SBI
Recent months have seen the SBI entangled in a web of controversies, ranging from reported violations of work-life balance and staff shortages to coercive weekend schedules and undue performance pressures.

Earlier this year, a Deputy Branch Manager in Jalandhar, Punjab, resigned, citing an absence of an employee-friendly transfer policy, intimidating messages from superiors, and disruptions in work-life equilibrium.

Simultaneously, employees in Uttar Pradesh faced compulsory weekend work in November to meet ambitious targets for various schemes, raising questions about ethical practices.

In a separate grievance from the Northeast, an SBI official decried the detrimental effects of leveraging WhatsApp for official communication, alleging a breach of work-life balance and a violation of established bank protocols.

Probable Insights into Resignations Causes
While the exact reasons for the surge in PO resignations remain largely unexplored, a Frontline report from 2022 hinted at strenuous working conditions within the country's largest public sector bank.

It was reported that, in a letter to local head offices on February 5, 2022, Ranjan Gupta, the bank’s Chief General Manager (HR), wrote, “The guiding principles behind any HR initiative should be to align the expectations of the organisation..however, the actions and practices followed at certain regions are contradictory to the expectation of the bank.”

He further illustrated the reasons below -

1) Permission denied arbitrarily to those eligible for work from home—a pregnant staffer was not allowed to work from home on the flimsy grounds that she had not submitted her application in time.

2) Calling officers to work on Sundays/holidays routinely without any office order and without the mandatory payment to them for working extra hours.

3) Lack of empathy while carrying out transfers/postings on compassionate grounds: a young officer who requested for transfer from one module to another so that he could take care of his ageing and ailing parents was transferred to a branch 200 kilometres from his parents’ residence.

4) Arbitrarily denying allotment of official guest houses/holiday homes, which was actually a matter of right.

5) False closure of staff grievances without actually resolving the matter.

A recent report emphasised a consistent decline in the SBI's workforce, a perplexing trend given the simultaneous increase in customers and business. Clerical staff numbers have plummeted by 28,000, indicating potential strain on operations.

In a twist of fate, the resignation of Probationary Officers from SBI unfolds against the dramatic backdrop of intensified target pressures, spotlighting the controversial push for selling third-party products, notably SBI Life Insurance, amid whispers of potential mis-selling.