State Bank of India cut its staff by 6,622 employees in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 following its merger with its associate banks, The Economic Times reported.

Total headcount at India's largest lender dropped to about 273,000 from 280,000 due to retirements and a voluntary retirement scheme. The lender saw 7,247 employees retiring, including 3,569 employees of its associate banks who were offered voluntary retirement schemes.

The bank is in the process of restructuring its workforce in the wake of the merger. The bank has merged 594 branches as of Aug. 6 and rationalized 122 administrative offices.

Digitization is also playing a part in the staff restructure. The bank is redeploying staff in government service branches as the government is shifting most of its banking operations to portals.