At a time when many Nigerians (both employed and unemployed) are struggling to cope with the tough economy in the country, report says Heritage Bank of Nigeria are currently laying off some of its workers.
According to findings by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the bank sacked no fewer than 400 of its staff in December alone.
It was gathered that more workers are still expected to be laid off.
A top management source in the bank, who pleaded anonymity, said that the sack cut across the top, middle and low cadres.
He said that the mass sack was creating apprehension and fears among the remaining workers.
The source said that the remaining workers, especially workers from the former Enterprise Bank, feared they could be disengaged anytime.
Recall that Heritage Bank, in October 2014, acquired Enterprise Bank with about N56 billion ($281 million).
Findings reveal that workers from the former Enterprise Bank were the most affected in the ongoing restructuring exercise embarked on to improve the bank’s profitability.
The bank embarked on the massive sack in spite of the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige’s directive to financial institutions to desist from the sacking spree.
Fela Ibidapo, the bank’s Head of Corporate Communications, however, told NAN that the figures were not correct.
Mr. Ibidapo said that the mass sack was not limited to the bank as it cut across all operators in the industry.
There have been media reports of the bank’s financial instability which the bank denied.
