Nigerian banks sacked 1,936 workers in 2021, says NBS report

Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria sacked a total of 1,936 workers in 2021, the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed.

The affected members of staff include those in the categories of executives, staff, junior and contract staff, according to the ‘Selected Banking Sector Data report’ for the full year of 2021 released by the NBS.

The workers were made up of those in commercial banks, merchant banks and non-interest banks, according to the country’s official data warehouse.

A large amount of the workforce was sacked, while a few others resigned.

According to the data, banks’ staff strength fell to 93,090 by the end of 2021, representing a decline. This is worse than in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic led to the closure of businesses including banks.

When the Nigerian economy was reopened after the over three months lockdown in 2020, some banks shut down some of their branches, while others reduced work hours.

However, as of the end of 2020, the sector still maintained a staff strength of 95,026 workers.

Findings by this newspaper showed that staff strength in 2021 declined lowest in the last four years.

In the full year of 2018, the banks’ staff strength was highest at 104,669. It fell in 2019 to 103,610 and 95,026 in 2020.

A breakdown of the recent data for 2021 showed that in the first quarter of 2021, the banks’ workforce was 94,681 before falling to 92,780.

It dropped further to 92,699 in the third quarter of 2021 and rose slightly to 93,090 workers by the end of 2021.

Year-on-year, executive staff strength fell to 249 in 2021 from the 257 recorded in 2020, while senior staff also fell to 16,738 compared to 17,381 Senior Staff employed in 2020.

The junior staff fell from 37,590 workers in December 2020 to 36,514 in December 2021.

Contract staff were the highest employee of banks, but they recorded a decline to 39,589 in 2021 from the 39,798 contract workers employed in 2020. (TheWitness)