AI is eating jobs
A major change is taking shape very quietly in India’s banking sector. The country’s leading private banks are continuously opening new branches and expanding their operations, but the surprising thing is that they are now working with less employees than before. The increasing use of technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has completely changed the way banks work. Its direct impact is visible on jobs, where new recruitments have been replaced by ’employee optimisation’ i.e. streamlining the number of employees.
Abundance of new branches, but decreasing staff
If we look at the figures, the situation becomes absolutely clear. HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private bank, had 2.11 lakh employees at the end of financial year 2026 (FY26), up from 2.14 lakh just a year earlier. In the March quarter alone, a huge decline of 4,000 was recorded in the number of employees of the bank. At the same time, the workforce of Axis Bank has also reduced from 1.04 lakh to 1.01 lakh.
It is not that banks have shrunk their scope. In contrast, Axis Bank has opened about 400 new branches during the same period. HDFC has also started its 234 new branches. This simply means that banks are now able to run a huge system with fewer people.
Is this the trend in small banks also?
This change is not limited to just the largest institutions. RBL Bank, which is the target of possible takeover by UAE-based Emirates NBD, has also seen its employee count decrease for the first time in the last ten years. This figure has reduced from 14,265 (FY25) to 13,316 (FY26).
On the other hand, this strategy is even more clearly visible in the country’s second largest private bank ICICI Bank. The bank had reduced its workforce by about 6,000 in the financial year 2025. They had also made it clear that they will not make new recruitments (on net basis) in FY 2026, even if they have added 600 new branches during this period. Yes Bank was the only exception in this entire wave, where a slight increase in the number of employees was seen.
Billions of dollars invested in technology
After all, how are these banks able to manage their work with less employees? The answer is huge investment in technology. Banks have digitalized and automated many of their processes, due to which the need for many manual posts has been eliminated.
HDFC Bank has clarified that it has increased its technology investment four times to approximately one billion dollars. Their main focus is to provide customers with the best digital experience without any interruption. Axis Bank Executive Director Subrata Mohanty also said that the bank is spending about 10 percent of its total operating expenses on technology. This investment has speeded up work and increased productivity.
The real impact of AI is yet to come
This is a big and serious signal for the youth looking for a job. The traditional way of working in the banking sector is now becoming history. Axis Bank has made it clear that the job losses at present do not yet include the full impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Banks themselves believe that when the full use of AI starts, it will have a much deeper impact on the number of employees. This means that in the coming time, only those professionals will be needed in the banking sector who can keep pace with this new digital revolution and AI technology.
Also read- Who are those two giants, due to whom the health of the stock market improved, one earned Rs 52 thousand crores?
