Ecobank Sacks 1,040 Staff - Punch

 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.

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.

http://www.punchng.com/ecobank-nigeria-fires-1040-

workers/