Commercial Banks Sack 12,000 Staff in 4 Years, As Cost of Salaries Jumps to Record High

• NBS data has once again demonstrated the unpredictability of working in Nigerian commercial banks
• According to the data, over 12,000 Nigerians working in commercial banks lost their employment in four years, with 1,949 laid off in 2021 alone
• It is also important to note that the new wave of youths leaving the country has created double headaches for banks retaining skilled staff

The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that over 12,841 commercial bank staff have lost their jobs in the last four years(2018-2021).

NBS stated this in its sectoral performance report released published on its website on Wednesday, 12 October 2022.

According to the report obtained by Legit.ng, out of the 103,296 staff strength as of the end of 2018, only 90,455 Nigerians still have a job in commercial banks as of the end of 2021.

Read also

Nigerian government watches on as China fines Kenya N4.71 billion for defaulting on railway loans

In 2021 alone, the analysis showed that 1,949 banking staff who survived the 2020 pandemic retrenching lost their jobs.

Commercial Banks sack staff in 2021

A breakdown from the report showed that at the end of March 2021(Q1), there were 197 Executive Staff, 16,750 Senior Staff, 36,594 Junior Staff and 38,863 contract staff to bring the total number of staff in commercial banks to 92,404.

Interestingly by year-end, the figures look this way 200 Executive Staff, 16,390 Senior Staff, 35,193 Junior Staff and 38,672 contract staff

Breakdown of 2021 banks staff strength changes in 12 months

• Executive Staff- three new staff added
• Senior Staff- 360 sacked or resigned
• Junior Staff-1,401 sacked or resigned
• Contract staff- 191 sacked or resigned

Banks Salaries jump to 4-year high

Meanwhile, despite the sack and the number of persons that left the banking sector, commercial banks recorded their highest salaries and employee expenses in 2021.

Read also

Lagosians threaten to return to charcoal, firewood as price of 12.5kg cylinder cooking gas rises to N12,000

According to NBS, over N602 billion was spent to take care of the over 90,000 commercial bank staff in the 12 months of 2021.

The amount spent on staff salaries in 2021 is a 14.57 per cent increase when compared to N525.5 billion recorded in 2020.

Breakdowns showed that N516.74 billion was spent in 2018, N597.94 billion in 2019 and N525.58 billion in 2020.

GT, Zenith head the List of Nigerian Banks with the best-paid executives

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported on how much Nigerian banks executive earned in a sector with the highest employers of labour in the country.

Chief Executive/Managing Directors are saddled with the responsibilities not only to ensure salaries are paid but also profits are made.

These enormous responsibilities also come with a considerable executive compensation.

Source: Legit.ng