NEW DELHI: If huge increments and elaborate strategies to attract and
retain talent are the norm these days, here's an exception.
India's largest private sector bank ICICI, which has been hit by the
credit crunch following the US subprime crisis, has decided not to
give its employees across-the-board promotions this financial year.
And that is not all. According to sources, increments and bonus would
be meagre as well. The bank may even decide not to give bonus and
increments to its top-level executives. A final decision on this is
yet to be taken.
Annual increments at ICICI are normally in the range of 10-50%.
However, the bank has decided to scale down promotions, increments and
bonuses this year. ICICI officials said the bank's decision had
nothing to do with the global subprime crisis.
"The bank's condition is very stable. We have decided to scale down
promotions this year as we are very well capitalised in terms of
people," ICICI's group head of human resources K Ram Kumar, told ET.
He said the bank is making its own assessment of the global subprime
crisis. "The subprime crisis has hit all sectors alike and there is
nothing unique about the banking industry," Mr Kumar said.
This is not the first time that ICICI has taken measures to scale down
promotions. In 2002, when ICICI had merged with ICICI Bank to create
India's second-largest bank in terms of assets, it had announced a no-
promotion year. There is talk that the bank may even cut down its
workforce by around 4,000-5,000 employees to keep its bottomline
intact.
The bank had scaled down promotions in 1998, when it made a foray into
the retail business. According to industry experts, the subprime
crisis has had a trickling-down effect on Indian banks.
retain talent are the norm these days, here's an exception.
India's largest private sector bank ICICI, which has been hit by the
credit crunch following the US subprime crisis, has decided not to
give its employees across-the-board promotions this financial year.
And that is not all. According to sources, increments and bonus would
be meagre as well. The bank may even decide not to give bonus and
increments to its top-level executives. A final decision on this is
yet to be taken.
Annual increments at ICICI are normally in the range of 10-50%.
However, the bank has decided to scale down promotions, increments and
bonuses this year. ICICI officials said the bank's decision had
nothing to do with the global subprime crisis.
"The bank's condition is very stable. We have decided to scale down
promotions this year as we are very well capitalised in terms of
people," ICICI's group head of human resources K Ram Kumar, told ET.
He said the bank is making its own assessment of the global subprime
crisis. "The subprime crisis has hit all sectors alike and there is
nothing unique about the banking industry," Mr Kumar said.
This is not the first time that ICICI has taken measures to scale down
promotions. In 2002, when ICICI had merged with ICICI Bank to create
India's second-largest bank in terms of assets, it had announced a no-
promotion year. There is talk that the bank may even cut down its
workforce by around 4,000-5,000 employees to keep its bottomline
intact.
The bank had scaled down promotions in 1998, when it made a foray into
the retail business. According to industry experts, the subprime
crisis has had a trickling-down effect on Indian banks.
ICICI Bank reportedly suffered a loss of $264 million owing to the
crisis. The loss occurred because of the exposure of the bank's
foreign offices to credit derivatives. Mr Kumar, however, denied any
such plans, adding that the bank will focus on high-yielding revenue
jobs for the moment.
crisis. The loss occurred because of the exposure of the bank's
foreign offices to credit derivatives. Mr Kumar, however, denied any
such plans, adding that the bank will focus on high-yielding revenue
jobs for the moment.
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