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Keystone Bank fires senior management workers

By BusinessNews Staff on December 28, 2013

About a month after sacking a good number of its workers, Keystone Bank Limited has again fired a significant number of its workforce -majority of the affected employees belonged to the senior management cadre.

Keystone Bank, one of the three nationalised banks belonging to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, had early this month laid off some of its workers, and said the ‘right-sizing exercise’ was ongoing.

The bridged bank also said the exercise was in continuation of the lender’s recently instituted performance-based appraisal system.

A statement on Wednesday by the bank’s Head of Corporate Communication, Mr. Mohammed Ciroma, confirmed the latest job cut.

It stated that the move was in tune with the extant human capital development policy and guidelines of the company.

According to Ciroma, the development is aimed at repositioning the lender to adequately meet the challenges of the new financial year.

The spokesman said the management of the bank had held a meeting with the executive members of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks & Other Financial Institutions, adding that a consensus, which holistically accommodated all payments accruable to the affected staff members in line with the 2012 ASSBIFI Staff Settlement Agreement, had also been reached.

Ciroma stated that the bank was committed to the ideals of due process and proper separation of service between its employees and the institution.

He added that the bank “remains focused on achieving credible business performance that would enhance the brand value while safeguarding the welfare of its employees and the investment of shareholders, the banking public and other stakeholders.”

Declining profits, which characterised the nine-month results of a number of banks, may have ignited a wave of job cuts in the banking sector.

Some banks have sacked workers a few months after the Central Bank of Nigeria introduced a stiffer monetary measure, asking the Deposit Money Banks to keep 50 per cent of public sector deposits with the CBN.

In the last two months, at least four banks have sacked some of their workers.

They are Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Enterprise Bank Limited, Unity Bank Plc and Keystone Bank Limited.

Union Bank and Unity Bank had disengaged some of their personnel. Enterprise Bank also reportedly sacked over 150 workers. Enterprise, one of the three nationalised banks, confirmed the development but declined to mention the number of staff members affected.

Analysts are of the opinion that in the coming months, more banks are expected to ‘right-size,’ in line with the tight monetary stance of the CBN and in a bid to rein in on inflation, which the CBN has succeeded in keeping at a single digit in the last six months.

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