Two Of Five Nigerian Bank Workers Are On Contract – Report

Two of every five persons working in Nigerian banks are contract staff. This is according to the data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS revealed that as of the end of September 2020, 23 banks operating, employed a total of 95,000 workers. 40,382 of the totals employed were on a non-permanent contract basis. This means that the number of workers on contract are 42.11 percent.

Commercial banks, merchant banks and non-interest banks were the institutions covered in the employment statistics.

A contract employee is an individual working for a company for a predetermined time and cost. The employer is usually not going to provide a variety of traditional employee benefits such as pensions and health insurance.

Thus, casualization is a variant of contract. It shrinks the economy and is responsible for unemployment growth and underemployment, which have many workers susceptible to casual and contract jobs.

By a further breakdown, the data provided by the NBS showed that out of the banks’ total workforce, 241 were executive staff; 17,718 were senior staff; 37,647 were junior staff while the rest were on contract level.

The NBS data revealed that the total number of contract staff in the banking sector stood at 45,350 in Q4, 2019 while the total staff was 103,610.

In the first quarter of 2020, the banks had 41, 181 contract staff out of the 96, 975 workers; while the sector had 38,942 contract staff out of 94,498 workers in the Q2, 2020.

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The need to cut down cost had forced a number of organizations to resort to contract employment, this had been opposed by a number of labour unions.

A former President of the Trade Union Congress, Peter Esele said, contract staff was legal, depending on what contract staff signed.

He said, “What we have to ask ourselves is, does this contract guarantee sustainable wage?

“Does it cater to the yearnings and aspiration of workers? Does the contract ensure that the productivity of the workers is enhanced? Does it also create enabling environment for the workers to be at their best?”

He added, “If these criteria are met, it is okay, but knowing how the employers work, I don’t think the workers are enjoying where they found themselves.

“But what we find is that most of them don’t have a union.”

He added that this was why contract staff were unionized in the oil and gas sector.

“If the workers are unionised in the banking sector, my advice to them is that they should sit down and put a condition of service or collective bargaining agreement with employers in the banking sector,” he said.

In a related issue, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria had said it relaunched its mentoring scheme for the capacity development of young practitioners in the banking and finance industry to address some gaps identified in the sector.

Speaking on a related issue, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) had said it relaunched its mentoring scheme for the capacity development of young practitioners in the banking and finance industry to address some of the gaps identified in the industry.

Adding that the CIBN mentoring scheme, which was launched in 2012, was designed to enhance learning and career development for young bankers and to provide opportunity to strengthen the talent chain into senior leadership roles in the banking and finance industry.  y.

“The changing times require that we do things differently.” The President/Chairman, CIBN, Mr ‘Bayo Olugbemi, said

“At the CIBN, we believe that to maintain safety, soundness and stability of the banking industry, the human capital has a pivotal role to play.

“In this wise, we have identified mentoring as a potent tool for bridging the gap between learning and doing.

“In order to uphold ethics and professionalism which is the hallmark of the banking industry, accomplished, experienced bankers need to mentor the young and upcoming ones in order to sustain the ideals of our industry.” Olugbemi added.