Zenith Bank Sacks Employees, Promotes Others as It Restructures Operations

• Zenith Bank, laid off several staff members as part of a significant organizational restructuring
• Internal promotions and position changes that mostly favored junior staff were also part of the exercise
• According to the bank, performance and age concerns were the main factors in the decision

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

As part of a major organizational restructure, Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria's biggest lenders, laid off a number of senior employees, according to insiders.

According to an internal memo obtained by The PUNCH on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, the reorganization also included internal promotions and role revisions that primarily benefited junior employees.

Although the media reported that it is unable to confirm the exact number of impacted workers, sources said that about 66 senior staff members were laid off.

The decision was made mostly due to concerns about performance and age, according to the bank.

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Along with the senior staff layoffs, some younger employees who were judged to be older were also let go. Nonetheless, some of them were given the option to remain contract employees.

According to the source, several staff benefited from the bank's large promotion list that was made public after the reorganization.

The insider added that the organization raised salaries significantly in January, giving lower-level employees more attention and lowering the requirements for promotions and pay raises.

“In the bank’s usual practice, it’s people around age 60—those who are no longer looking young. I know they did this about five years ago, and they did it again this year for people who are aged,” the source said.

“I know a few individuals over 60 who were retired. They were paid heavily. This retirement process happens every four to five years, and those affected know themselves. Even in the civil service, you know that once you reach 60 or above, your time is up,” the source added.

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Zenith Bank has not yet released a formal announcement about the restructuring and layoffs. This change coincides with mounting pressure on Nigerian banks to streamline their operations in response to changing market demands.

Zenith Bank addresses Customers after changes

Legit.ng reported that Zenith Bank reported its system upgrade has been completed successfully. In a statement on Tuesday, Zenith Bank thanked its customers for their patience during the update process, pledging better services going forward.

Similar announcements were made by Zenith Bank on October 14, stating that the bank has improved its key information technology (IT) infrastructure following an October 1 system upgrade, with a guarantee that the outage would continue between 12:01 am and 2:30 pm.

Through various channels, Zenith Bank notified its customers on September 29 that a new version of its app would be automatically updated on October 1. This is as customers of the bank complained on X about their inability to use the bank's mobile app once the development occurred.

Source: Legit.ng