Economic crisis: Ecobank fires ‘at least 50’ staff

The management of Ecobank Nigeria Plc has relieved a minimum of 50 staff of their duties over the prevailing economic crisis in the country.

A top management staff of the bank told TheCable that the development came as a shock to those affected. He explained that although the issue had been discussed in the past, they did not expect it to take effect so soon.

The source said each of dismissed staff was earning nothing less than N25 million per annum, revealing that they were handed their dismissal letters on Tuesday.

“The sack affected those occupying the position of assistant general manager and above. They were asked to go because the top is heavy and the bank needs to be making good profit,” he said.

“They have been sacking junior staff and promoting themselves. Some of them have spent up to nine years on a particular position, restricting the growth of lower-cadre staff.

“This time around, the bank decided to look into this. The bank authorities sat over this issue and did not even look at the duration spent in office, because one of the four persons affected in my department was promoted just last year.

“The group said since the bank is struggling, it is not supposed to be spending much on salaries.”

The source added that the decision to lay off the senior staff yielded fruit because of the change in the leadership of the bank.

In December, Charles Kie, an Ivorian national, was named the new managing director of Ecobank.

“The issue of downsizing had been in the pipeline because the economy did not nosedive all of a sudden,” he continued.

“I can tell you that one of the reasons why the bank picked a head from another affiliate is to be able to implement this decision. If they had picked someone from here, it wouldn’t have been possible for the bank to achieve this. They would have politicised the whole issue.”

The current economic situation has led to job loss, with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) dismissing 150 staff earlier in the year.

Only on Monday did Babatunde Odunayo, pioneer CEO of Honeywell Flour Mills, predict that a massive job loss would happen within four weeks.