Access Bank Plc plans a massive downsizing of its operations in order to mitigate the impact of coronavirus pandemic.
The bank’s chief executive HerbertWigwe was quoted as saying that it would need to trim its payroll to sustain a lean operation while the coronavirus disruption persists.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday, April 30, 2020 that anonymous sources briefed during a conference call said the salary slash will commence in April.
The report was published hours before a video of the conference call was leaked on social media showing Wigwe talking about layoffs and pay cuts.
Wigwe lamented the disruption caused by the highly infectious coronavirus, and said the bank will not need as many workers as it currently has on its payroll. He said this will need significant trimming to balance the books.
H said, “We probably don’t need as many security men as required, especially as we don’t have all our branches open between now and December.
“We don’t need all the security men, cleaners, tellers, etc. That number of staff, which represents 75% of our staff strength, I think is one that we basically need to speak to their employers with the view to getting them to rationalise to the levels that we think will be necessary to basically sustain a lean, but actually customer service oriented institution. “
Although it was unclear to what extent the pay cuts will be effected, Wigwe said adjustments will have to be made to cut down on operational costs, starting with a 40% pay cut of his own income.
“We basically have to make the adjustment. I’ll take the largest pay cut which will be as much as 40%.
“The rest I’ll have to task it through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustment of some sort,” he said
