RBI Staff Strength Declines for First Time in Six Years Amid Rising Employee Expenses

Reserve Bank of India's Workforce Declines for First Time in Six Years

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reported a decline in its total workforce for the first time in six years, according to data published in the central bank's annual report for 2025-26. The RBI's staff strength stood at 13,220 as of December 31, 2025, down 2.2 percent from 13,520 a year earlier.

The decline marks the first contraction after five consecutive years of workforce expansion, which saw the central bank's workforce increase steadily from 12,276 employees in 2020 to 13,520 in 2024. The latest workforce composition included 7,517 employees in Class I, 3,206 in Class III, and 2,497 in Class IV categories.

While staffing levels in Class III and Class IV declined during the year, Class I strength increased to 7,517 from 7,325, making it the only segment to record net growth. Net employee additions during calendar year 2025 stood at 247, significantly lower than the 604 additions recorded in the previous year.

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Despite the decline in total headcount, employee-related expenditure rose 10.8 percent year-on-year to Rs 10,136.31 crore in FY26 from Rs 9,146.71 crore in FY25. The increase was driven by higher contributions towards superannuation funds following pension revisions.

The RBI has been strengthening its human resource capabilities through capacity-building and employee welfare programmes while advancing technology adoption across risk management and audit functions. The central bank has also implemented Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework 2.0 and expanded automation initiatives as part of broader institutional modernisation efforts.

The RBI has also initiated groundwork linked to "Utkarsh 2029", its medium-term strategy framework focused on continuity planning, institutional resilience, governance, and technological preparedness. The workforce data comes at a time when central banks globally are increasing investments in technology, cybersecurity, digital supervision, and risk-management infrastructure as financial systems become more digitised and operationally complex.

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Over the past few years, the RBI has also widened its regulatory oversight across fintechs, digital lending entities, payment systems, non-banking finance companies, and cybersecurity compliance within regulated entities.