Leadership (Abuja)
Amaka Ifeakandu
8 November 2009
Lagos — The crisis in the nation's banking industry has begun to take its toll on the employees of the banks, as many of them have lost their jobs. Investigation by LEADERSHIP showed that no fewer than four banks have laid off a good number of their staff, while others are threatening to embark on massive retrenchment as part of measures to cut down operating cost.
Consequently, it was gathered that an old generation bank that received a clean bill of health from the apex bank with head office in Marina, Lagos, recently sacked 400 workers for their inability to meet set target, while a new generation bank with its head office in Adeola Hopewell in Victoria Island, Lagos, has sacked 700 staffers, mostly marketers, due to liquidity crisis. It was also gathered that another new generation bank, after reducing staff salary by 30 per cent, has compiled names of about 900 workers to be sacked before the end of November, while another new generation bank that was among the five banks that failed the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation's stress test, last week reduced its staff strength by 30 per cent.
It was also gathered that others are still compiling lists of staff to be thrown into the labour market. Other reasons given by the banks for the sack, according to investigations, ranged from low productivity, inability to meet set targets, to the need to save cost in the face of the prevailing circumstances in the sector. However, a banker who pleaded anonymity said that some banks (names withheld) used outrageous targets as benchmark to determine who should be sacked and failure to meet the target would lead to automatic sack. The source said that all staff that were close to the former management fired by the CBN were either sacked or posted to their remote branches. Sources close to the banks told Leadership that most of the banks are doing everything possible to slash their overhead cost, to enable them recover from their exposures to both the capital market and the oil and gas sector.
They also explained that following the tight monitory policy of the CBN, in terms of adopting risk management structure, most banks have taken steps to reduce cost by quietly downsizing staff, especially those who are unproductive and unable to meet their target. Although inside sources in the four banks denied news of the sack, LEADERSHIP gathered that their managements are still prepared to sack any staff that is found incompetent. It was also gathered that anxiety is mounting in some banks, whose new managements plan massive sack over what the workers regard as frivolous excuses such as staff indebtedness to the bank and failure to meet targets.
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