SBI to Hire 12,000 Employees and Add 250 Branches in FY 27: Chairman C.S. Setty

State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to recruit around 12,000 employees across clerical and officer cadres during FY 2026-27, SBI Chairman C.S. Setty said in an interaction with PTI. The bank also plans to expand its branch network by around 250 branches on a net basis during the financial year.

SBI to Hire 12,000 Employees and Add 250 Branches in FY 27

The hiring plan comes after SBI recruited 25,633 personnel in FY 2025-26, including 4,640 officers, 19,340 associates and 1,653 contractual staff, according to the bank’s FY26 annual report. SBI had also recruited around 1,500 specialist IT officers during the previous financial year, while the Chairman indicated that a similar scale of IT-specific hiring is not expected this year.

The announcement is important for banking aspirants because it proposes recruitment for both clerical and officer cadres. But this figure of 11,000-12,000 is just a broad expectation of hiring and should not be taken as an official SBI vacancy notification till individual recruitment notifications are released.

Why Is SBI Hiring More Employees in FY27?

The reported hiring plan is in sync with SBI’s workforce requirements and business expansion. The report notes or suggests several factors, including:

Retiring Employees Replacement: SBI expects the recruitment needs to vary depending on the number of retirements during the financial year.
Branch Expansion: The bank intends to expand its branch network by ~200-250 branches on a net basis. Additional branches can create requirements for customer-facing and officer-level positions.
While talking about the expected numbers for recruitment, the Chairman of SBI also talked about the emerging requirements.
Changing Skill Requirements: SBI hired around 1,500 specialist IT officers in FY26 but does not foresee the need for such a large number in the IT space in FY27. This means that the recruitment mix will be able to change to meet the bank’s needs.

Which Posts Could Be Covered?

The recruitment will cover both:

Clerical cadre
Officer Rank

Candidates preparing for SBI recruitment can continue to follow the major recruitment categories:

SBI Clerk: SBI’s hiring requirement for FY27 is likely to include SBI’s clerical cadre. SBI Clerk Recruitment is generally for filling Junior Associate positions in customer support and sales in bank operations.
SBI PO: Officers recruitment is also part of the overall recruitment plan. SBI PO recruitment is done through separate bank’s own recruitment process.
Specialist and Other Officer Posts: The Chairman also said that SBI recruited around 1,500 specialist IT officers in FY26, but the bank does not expect to require a similar number on the IT side this year. That means FY27 hiring composition may be different than the previous year’s recruitment mix.

SBI to Add 250 Branches in FY27

SBI is also planning to expand its physical branch network along with recruitment. Chairman C.S. Setty said the bank expects its branch count to grow by about 250 branches on a net basis during FY27. SBI already has a large branch network, but the bank has identified areas where it can beef up its physical presence.

There is still scope for improvement in the presence of SBI in areas like: Chairman said There is still scope for improvement in the presence of SBI in areas like: Chairman said

New residential colonies
Commercial activity districts
Emerging customer demand areas
Where SBI’s existing presence can be bolstered

At the same time, SBI is looking to rationalise some branches, which means the gross number of new branches opened may differ from the net increase in the overall branch network.