More Bankers To Lose Jobs To Banking Reforms

Indications have emerged that more employees of the Deposit Money Banks may lose their jobs in the months ahead following series of rationalisation programmes being carried out by the banks.
Reliable sources in the banking sector told our correspondent on Thursday that the recent sackings of workers were meant to reduce overheads in the banks.
One of the sources, who preferred not to be mentioned because of the sensitive nature of the subject, told our correspondent that some of the banks would sack more workers next month following another round of appraisals.
“The sacking will be a continuous thing for now. At least, till the banking sector gets its feet back. More bankers will lose their jobs next month after another set of appraisals. The appraisals are done in some banks quarterly, while some banks do it every four months,” the source said.
A top executive in one of the banks that recently merged with another told our correspondent that the mass retrenchment by the banks was aimed at reducing overheads.
“The merger increased the scale and size of the banks, which also increased their costs to income ratio. The sensible thing to do is to cut cost unless the banks will run out of profit. So, closing some branches that are not making profit is inevitable. When you close such branches, you also retrench the staff involved,” he explained.
However, analysts have said that there are ways to rationalise without necessarily sacking workers enmass.
The Managing Director, Sotice Investment Company Limited, Mr. Adedayo Toluwase, said indiscriminate firing of bank employees, especially acquired banks, opposed the principle of fairness in corporate governance.
He said, “The continuous action of random sacking of staff from acquired institutions by the acquiring institutions contradicts the principle of equity and fairness in corporate governance. This also tends to erode corporate goodwill for the acquirer institution over time.
“It is also sad that many employees in Nigeria are not unaware of the implications of the employment contracts they carry and the scheme of arrangements of a standard merger/acquisition document, which is legally binding on the acquiring institution.”
Mainstreet Bank Limited, formerly Afribank Nigeria Plc, last week terminated the employment of 800 of its workers, including 650 members of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, a unit of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
Also, Sterling Bank Plc has sacked 400 workers in a systematic mass retrenchment aimed at reducing overheads.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that 97 per cent of the retrenched workers were former members of staff of Equatorial Trust Bank Limited, which was acquired by Sterling Bank.
In the same vein, First City Monument Bank recently sacked about 30 per cent of FinBank Plc employees following the merger of both institutions.
The Group Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Ladi Balogun, had said that FCMB was trying to achieve the synergies anticipated in the merger by closing 44 of the existing 183 branches of Finbank, a development that created 550 redundancies as a result of overlapping functions.

CKN NEWS

Chris Kehinde Nwandu is the Editor In Chief of CKNNEWS || He is a Law graduate and an Alumnus of Lagos State University, Lead City University Ibadan and Nigerian Institute Of Journalism || With over 2 decades practice in Journalism, PR and Advertising, he is a member of several Professional bodies within and outside Nigeria || Member: Institute Of Chartered Arbitrators ( UK ) || Member : Institute of Chartered Mediators And Conciliation || Member : Nigerian Institute Of Public Relations || Member : Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria || Fellow : Institute of Personality Development And Customer Relationship Management || Member and Chairman Board Of Trustees: Guild Of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria

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