ICICI Bank anticipates record high fundraising, plans 30 new hires

ICICI Bank Ltd is planning 30 new hires this year on the expectation that fundraising by companies will hit a record high this year and next.

The country's second-largest private lender aims for 15 new hires in its investment banking division to beef up its mergers and acquisitions, private equity and fundraising practices, and another 15 in sales, trading, and research, Ajay Saraf, head of investment banking and institutional equities at the lender’s ICICI Securities Ltd. unit told Bloomberg news agency.

The job profiles range from associate to executive vice president level, Saraf told Bloomberg News.

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The moves will increase ICICI Securities’ headcount to 190.

In November 2023, Mint reported that private banks in India are planning to hire at least 50,000 people for entry-level roles over the coming year to battle high attrition in this segment.

The lenders are facing what they call “infant mortality" – just-recruited employees leaving for logistics, delivery services, and other firms – and are hiring from campuses in large numbers since recruiting from the market is more expensive.

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Attrition has been somewhat evenly spread across private banks. HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, saw attrition of 34.15% in FY23, while IndusInd Bank saw 51% attrition and ICICI Bank 30.9%.

Rajkamal Vempati, president and head of human resources, Axis Bank told Mint last year that they would be hiring about 12,000 from campuses from the batch of 2024 – four times more than last year.

In the previous financial year, lenders saw a sharp rise in attrition as demand for young workers with digital skills in sales and marketing surged in insurance, retail, and fintech. The lenders are facing stiff competition from fintech firms at present.

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According to banking recruiters, banks are offering about ₹5 lakh in tier 2 and 3 colleges, and this can rise to ₹8 lakh if the candidate has digital skills. Salaries in premier business schools range from ₹20-30 lakh and those in the better-known engineering colleges range from ₹15-20 lakh.