75% Lay-off: Access Bank Reacts To Mass Sacking At Its Branches As Stakeholders Panic

Following reports that Access Bank plans to sack 75 per cent of its workforce, stakeholders including employees are beginning to panic. While report has it that the bank has begun to sack its workers, Access Bank said it is not sacking 75 per cent.

The lender denied the figure in a statement seen by Allnews, stating that the claim is baseless and malicious. Access Bank explained that due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector, some of its branches were closed, preventing some outsourced workers from performing their duties.

The denial comes after condemnation trailed Access Bank during the weekend due to a leaked video that showed Access Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, disclosing that the bank no longer need some non-essential workers, all of whom make up 75 per cent of Access Bank’s workforce. He also revealed that workers’ salary will be cut, including his; but Nigerians were more concerned about the workers that will lose their jobs.

Access Bank Claim Its Protecting Jobs

According to Access Bank, the company has helped employees keep their jobs as it engages various stakeholders on an on-going basis based on relevance and required manpower, “We deny in its entirety the baseless and twisted speculation that the Bank is sacking 75% of its workforce. This is malicious and a distraction from a genuine and compassionate plan to protect our staff and help keep jobs in the unfolding macroeconomic environment.

“We state that based on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not expect that all our branches will be fully opened for in-branch services until later in the year. This has made it impossible for many of our outsourced workers to perform their duties as usual.

“Based on the above-mentioned circumstances, we have commenced engagement with various stakeholders with a view to ensuring that they provide the relevant services and optimum manpower as may be required by the Bank on an on-going basis.”

Is Access Bank Preventing Job Loss?

While Access Bank state that it is helping its workers retain their jobs, Allnews had reported that some employees were reportedly sacked via email a day after Herbert announced in the leaked video that Access Bank is planning to trim its workforce.

"We probably don't need as many security men as required, even to the fact that we are not gonna have all our branches open between now and December. We don't need all the tea girls. We don't need all the cleaners. We don't need all the tellers' etcetera, etcetera," Wigwe said in the video.

A day later, a mass retrenchment was reported at Access Bank, one of which led to a pregnant staff collapsing. Now, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered banks to suspend sack of full-time or part-time workers, stating that banks must receive approval from the Apex bank before rationalising its workforce.