The gale of job losses being witnessed in the
country due to the current economic hardship has
caught up with Ecobank Nigeria, which has sacked
over 1,040 of its employees.
country due to the current economic hardship has
caught up with Ecobank Nigeria, which has sacked
over 1,040 of its employees.
The PUNCH reported on Tuesday that Diamond
Bank Plc sacked over 200 members of its
workforce, while FBN Holdings, the parent
company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, recently
said it would prune the number of its employees
by 1,000.
Top officials of the pan-African lender confirmed to
our correspondents that the initial list of those to be
sacked had over 1,400, workers but was later
reduced to “a little above 1,000.”
Ecobank spokespersons declined to comment on
the number of workers who were disengaged.
However, the lender said in a statement that it had
converted over 200 outsourced personnel to
permanent employees as part of its drive to attract
and reward talent, while also repositioning for
improved efficiency.
In line with the recognition of excellence, the bank
also said it had recently implemented a merit-based
pay increase for the top performers across all
cadres.
The Managing Director, Ecobank, Mr. Charles Kie,
was quoted as saying that converting qualified
outsourced staff to permanent workers was in line
with the bank’s commitment to developing and
growing talent by nurturing its people along their
career paths and giving them access to higher
responsibilities.
He said the bank was resolute that recognising and
rewarding excellence would drive its goal of
achieving exceptional performance in the industry.
Kie said, “The bank, in its renewed drive for optimal
performance, has in addition realigned certain roles
bank wide to ensure improved efficiency. This
necessitates the exits of some staff who were
adequately compensated.
“This is in furtherance of a market repositioning
exercise designed to strengthen the bank’s business
across all markets where it operates.”
He emphasised that the ETI was on a trajectory to
achieve leadership and that the Nigerian subsidiary
remained one of Ecobank Transnational
Incorporated’s major affiliates as well as one of the
country’s systemically important financial
institutions.
Kie explained, “Our focus is to improve the quality
of service to our customers as well as our
operational efficiency.
“We understand that people are our key assets; so,
we have emphasised the need to reward our best
performers, continue to re-invigorate our people,
while also opening up new opportunities for
talented and committed people to join us as
permanent employees. At the same time, based on
our repositioning plan, we had to disengage some
staff, while ensuring that, in line with industry
standards, they are treated fairly.”
Ecobank Nigeria is a member of the Ecobank
Group, which is present in 36 African countries. The
Group employs nearly 19,000 people from 40
different countries in over 1,200 branches and
offices.
ETI had posted over N40bn decline in its profit for
the 2015 financial year owing to high impairment
charges.
