Ecobank fired senior manager.

IN line with earlier predictions that
Nigeria’s current economic dilemma
might take its toll on employees in
various sectors of the economy, the
management of Ecobank Nigeria Plc,
early this week, became one of the first
organisations to layoff casualties created
by its harsh operating environment when
it sacked no fewer than 50 of its top
management staff.
A competent source privy to the
disengagement exercise said those
mostly affected in the current purge
included senior managers in the range of
Managers, Assistant General Managers,
Deputy General Managers and General
Managers, with monthly emoluments of
between N1 million and N2 million.
Daily Sun learnt that the bank reportedly
took the hard decision to scale down its
overheads in the wake of declining
earnings occasioned by falling crude and
commodity prices.
The latest retrenchment of senior
management staff was believed to be
one of the cost cutting measures
adopted by the bank to reduce its huge
wage bill to hedge the harsh headwinds
threatening the profitability of most
businesses in the past 15 months.
The affected members of the bank’s
staff were belived to have collected their
letters of termination of appointment at
the bank’s headquarters on Victoria
Island, Tuesday.
Although efforts to speak with the bank’s
head of Corporate Communications was
not successful as calls and text
messages to the department were not
answered, a press statement issued by
the bank said the decision to sack the
senior managers also led to the elevation
of over 300 staff to new positions. In a
statement announcing the promotion,
Deputy Managing Director of the bank,
Mr. Anthony Okpanachi, said the same
performance parameter used to
determine the fate of those elevated,
also revealed “the underperformance of
the disengaged workers.” “Ecobank is an
institution where professionalism culture
and exceptional performance and
innovativeness are recognised and
rewarded,” he said.