Why are banking employees switching jobs within 6 months of joining? 

Once considered a safe and stable sector for long-term employment, the banking sector employment trends have started mimicking the IT sector. Attrition rates among banking employees, especially in the retail segments are on the rise. 
Are IT-sector attrition rates on the mend? 

Last week, CEO of Infosys Salil Parekh said in a public announcement of the company's quarterly earnings that the attrition rate has been stable after voluntary attrition for IT services fell to 17.3 per cent from 28.4 per cent in the first quarter of FY23. 
Wipro reported an attrition rate of 23.3 per cent while the rate at Tech Mahindra stood at 22 per cent.

Tata Consultancy Services reported a higher attrition rate of 19.7 per cent, a 2.3 per cent rise from the year-ago period. Banking attrition rates on a continuous rise.

HDFC Bank's employee turnover rate rose to 34 per cent compared to last year, while Axis Bank's rose about 35 per cent. Attrition at Kotak Mahindra Bank rose to around 50 per cent with Yes Bank registering a 43 per cent surge.

"It is a problem the entire industry is grappling with," Axis Bank CEO Amitabh Chaudhry told Reuters on the lender's earnings call on Wednesday. The bank is exploring various options, including career progression and training, to retain employees, Chaudhry said.

"Attrition happens when there is high demand for an industry's services and companies are pushing productivity, as is the case with financial services," said Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder of staffing firm Teamlease Services told Reuters.

"We are seeing attrition mostly on the sales side, which is a trend across the banking industry," Yes Bank CEO Prashant Kumar said in an earnings call over the weekend. The bank is working towards controlling it and would "not like to see an overall attrition of more than 25-30 per cent," she said.

How much do banking professionals earn? 

An entry-level relationship manager with up to two years of experience earns between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 a month on average. It also includes incentives that are linked to the revenue the employees can generate. Pay in the category has risen 8-10 per cent a year in the last year, aligning with the broader job market. Teamlease's Chakraborty said, "But staffers will try to maximise gains in a growing market by switching banking jobs if they have the opportunity," she added.

Do employees switch jobs only for a salary hike?  

Exits for employees are not only for salary upgrades but are also for benefits such as flexible working conditions, according to a banker on condition of anonymity. Most exits happen within six months of joining, this person added. It said that Kotak Mahindra Bank had the sharpest rise in attrition and had the worst churn at junior levels.

The bank has an attrition rate of around 10 per cent at the senior level and 20 per cent at the midlevel. However, the attrition rate is about 50 per cent at the junior level, according to Shanti Ekambaram, a full-time director at Kotak Mahindra Bank.

(With Reuters inputs)