Access Bank Plc has decided to slash the salaries of its employees due to coronavirus pandemic which has affected the economy.
Bloomberg reports that the reductions are expected to start from May unless business conditions improve.
Nigerian banks are facing the threat of rising bad-debt levels as a crash in oil prices and the risk of a naira devaluation coincide with the coronavirus pandemic that has affected businesses.
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Herbert Wigwe, the group managing director of Access Bank said the adjustments are needed at this time and that he would take a pay cut of about 40%.
However, according to The Trent, it seems a pay cut is not the only change that Access bank seems to be implementing.
Herbert, who spoke via video conferencing in a town hall meeting with the bank’s staff said those to be affected by the mass retrenchment are 75% of the bank’s staff, most of whom are outsourced and are offering “non-essential services.”
He said: “We probably don’t need as many securitymen 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,”
“The second has to do with our professional cost. Now that is one that is very tricky and it is tricky because I do understand and appreciate that its gonna, you know, bring its own pain to staff. We basically have to make the adjustments the same way you sounded when we spoke 10 days ago with respect to basically cutting down cost.
“I will be the first to take the hit and I’m gonna take the largest pay cut, which would be as much as 40 percent. The rest we would have to cascade right through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustments of some sort.”
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