With the news of Access bank retrenching about 75% of it's work force and prior donation of 1 billion naira to the federal government just before the lockdown, I think Access bank already had distress after absorbing diamond Bank and had plans to sack some staffs but didn't really have an excuse or way to get it done without a public and workers union outcry.
And in comes covid-19 and they saw a perfect opportunity to retrench as much staff/weight as possible while making a billion naira "donation" to the government to be on their good books.

That is the bitter truth. They are hidding under COVID to do what they have been wanting to do but fear labour n Nigerians wrath.

inforesource:
That is the bitter truth. They are hidding under COVID to do what they have been wanting to do but fear labour n Nigerians wrath.

That 1 billion naira was bribe of some sort to the government to look away

Access Bank is your problem?? What is the story of Atikus mass sack. I want to hear.

Access Bank has a history of exiting staff without blinking an eye. Thesame thing they did immediately they acquired intercontinental Bank.

How can a Tier 1 Bank be announcing a mass sack after just one month of lockdown? Most microfinance Banks have not even sacked their staff. It is clear that the Bank had an underlying challenges that has been exacerbated by the lockdown!

jamesversion:
Access Bank is your problem?? What is the story of Atikus mass sack. I want to hear.

Access bank is more of my problem because
1) access bank has my savings and millions of other Nigerian's not atiku, and so should be much more accountable and open on their financial standing.
2) closing 348 branches(not staffs oh) as against atiku's 48 staffs..I don't think I am out of order to focus on access bank and it's effect on the economy.
3) A very close relative is affected by one of their closed branches.
As for the story for Atiku, I don't know. My message I am passing across is that, Access bank might just have been in distress before the covid-19 but just used it as an excuse......if you do know the story of Atiku's sack however pls share.

Xerxes2088 I agree with you

Bakason247:
Access Bank has a history of exiting staff without blinking an eye. Thesame thing they did immediately they acquired intercontinental Bank.

How can a Tier 1 Bank be announcing a mass sack after just one month of lockdown? Most microfinance Banks have not even sacked their staff. It is clear that the Bank had an underlying challenges that has been exacerbated by the lockdown!

God bless you.....infact their running costs reduced by maybe as much as 70% during this lockdown, so for them to start sacking even before opening their doors fully on opened there was a problem before the lockdown

Bank job no be am atal for our obodo Nigeria.. they use you, squeeze life out of you then discard you.

I pray those affected can stand on their feet again and get better things doing.

Xerxes2088:

Access bank is more of my problem because
1) access bank has my savings and millions of other Nigerian's not atiku, and so should be much more accountable and open on their financial standing.
2) closing 348 branches(not staffs oh) as against atiku's 48 staffs..I don't think I am out of order to focus on access bank and it's effect on the economy.
3) A very close relative is affected by one of their closed branches.
As for the story for Atiku, I don't know. My message I am passing across is that, Access bank might just have been in distress before the covid-19 but just used it as an excuse......if you do know the story of Atiku's sack however pls share.

Boeing has suffered this period and will layoff staff, British Airways is also laying off staff once normal activities resume. After the end of Covid-19 proper, alot of companies will layoff staff to stay afloat. This is the reality on ground.

Access bank layoff was expected, with or without Covid-19 since the merger with Diamond bank resulted in duplicity of branches in same location. Access bank gained Diamond bank customers but since they're located same place, many branches will have to be closed. whichever branch they decided to retain will only put extra workload on the staff.

But uncertain times await many business after this Covid-19 issue and Access bank has only taken the pragmatic decision to stay afloat and competitive now and after the virus.


We would learn of more job cuts in different sectors in due time. You can bank on this.

All the donations that banks, business men are donating to FG are not truly for Corona, they are doing that to seek government favour

They should be ready to loose atleast 30% of customers their deposit because of panic withdrawal. Not good for their image either.

My believe to this conspiracy theory about access bank is this; buy the competitor’s off and kill it for your survival!!

FG should return the 1 billion naira donation to Access Bank.
This distress signal is obvious and I'm afraid they might even lose customers than the number of staff they've sacked.

Access Bank sacked staff not because of lockdown, but because of the merger they had with diamond. So many of the staff from both bank became redundant with the merger. You can see some branches just side by side with each other. So there was need to lay off hands and what better excuses to use than the lock down.

If you work in the bank, you will knw that despite the lockdown, banks are still making profit, though may not be as much as before.

CBN didn't close money market, Interbank market is still open, customers deposit are still in banks wch gives them profit. Online transaction and ATM are still functioning, wch generates income. Though the income could be small,but the lockdown is just a cover for the sack. Also note that operating expenses might have dropped significantly.

The bank knows what it just did.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/11466934_4e855496396d45d7997a7da2fb41331a_jpeg_jpeg5d635229116fc68b7868f3b1de52a8a6

Rich4god:
Access Bank sacked staff not because of lockdown, but because of the merger they had with diamond. So many of the staff from both bank became redundant with the merger. You can see some branches just side by side with each other. So there was need to lay off hands and what better excuses to use than the lock down.

If you work in the bank, you will knw that despite the lockdown, banks are still making profit, though may not be as much as before.

CBN didn't close money market, Interbank market is still open, customers deposit are still in banks wch gives them profit. Online transaction and ATM are still functioning, wch generates income. Though the income could be small,but the lockdown is just a cover for the sack. Also note that operating expenses might have dropped significantly.

The bank knows what it just did.

Yeah I understand them sacking some staffs cause of the close proximity of some diamond and access branches...but sacking 75% of it's work force....might just say something could be wrong deeper than just the close proximity of branches, 30-40% would be understandable..but 75%

Acess bank has brought somtin worse dan covid on Nigerians who work with hs bank.

1billion Naira cud av helped those Staff Salaries even ot was at 50% pay cut... One of the Worst situation to find yrsef in life is wen u re without hope. praying fr the end of covid meanns dre is expectation of goin to meet somtin afta d end of d virus as occupation, bt wen u av to deal with Covid and Joblessness

Below is access banks Q1 profit. They made a PAT of about 29B while combining other sectors of Access bank, the PAT is about 41B. I think this made them 3rd in the industry after ZIB and GTB.

But looking further you will see fair value loss of about 22B wch now reduce the banks profit to a mere 7B. And when you apply that to Access group as a whole, you are getting around 25B profit which to be is not all that bad.


Well, maybe professional accountant can come and make more explanation in the fair value loss, cos to me I see it as not an actual loose but just a loss arising from revaluation of assets. So that loss of 22B is just on paper not on performance.

To say that the management of Access Bank doesn’t know what it is doing will be a gross underestimation of the capacity of the team.

Access Bank is run by a high capacity intellectual and shrewd bankers who over the years have learnt by all means to weave their way from obscurity into something even if it meant pulling down perceived or real opposition along the way. If you think the bank is in distress, do not be deceived! Over 80% of the buildings housing the closed branches are owned directly by the bank, picture how much the bank stands to realize when these buildings are put to the market for sale and you will better understand the economics behind taking the decision.

Yes, it may not be the best of times to go into real estate but trust me, when the whole virus saga is over and the economy is fully functioning, do not be surprised when Access Bank starts posting mega billions as profit which will be boosted by the sale of the buildings.

Besides, closing down the branches in business terms is referred to as scaling down. Imagine the cost that’ll be saved from running 340 branches that ordinarily would not make any profit for months to come. No business will keep a branch afloat if it is depleting the resources of the organization.

Granted that some of the branches will be reopened after sometime but you will agree that the bank made a win-win business decision. The only victims are the affected staff and believe me, it’s not today that Access Bank, and indeed other banks, have been downsizing.

I was in that boat 5 years ago.

Most of the banks are former diamond branches. Just about 5% is the Real Access Bank branches. Well you cannot tell a man how to run his business or spend his money. If he likes he gives China 20Billion. Better start saving your money and establishing your small business. Don’t depend on Suit and tie job.

Na before before People day respect bank job. Dem go salute you like say you don win lottery.

If I tell you my experience with Keystone bank at bode Thomas that year ehh. From Ikorodu to Surulere I go use public transport. E get one time Way I enter one chance, they gave me a big cut on my arm, omo I carry my self go the branch make I show them say I don injure o (because if you no show them go give you query and reduce 2k from your salary) I carry blood enter I no send, I no shame. People wan help me clean blood I no even gree.

Hustle for your self. Just pretend as if you don’t have father or mother. Do like mad man

No. Access banks has an overflow of staff from diamond that they don't need. I'm some streets you will see two access bank branches just couple meters apart.

They should have downsized diamond bank staff a long time ago but they were playing politics. This gives them the perfect excuse.

The N1 billion donation cannot pay Access bank staff salary for a single month.

Carfreak966:
Most of the banks are former diamond branches. Just about 5% is the Real Access Bank branches. Well you cannot tell a man how to run his business or spend his money. If he likes he gives China 20Billion. Better start saving your money and establishing your small business. Don’t depend on Suit and tie job.

Na before before People day respect bank job. Dem go salute you like say you don win lottery.

If I tell you my experience with Keystone bank at bode Thomas that year ehh. From Ikorodu to Surulere I go use public transport. E get one time Way I enter one chance, they gave me a big cut on my arm, omo I carry my self go the branch make I show them say I don injure o (because if you no show them go give you query and reduce 2k from your salary) I carry blood enter I no send, I no shame. People wan help me clean blood I no even gree.

Hustle for your self. Just pretend as if you don’t have father or mother. Do like mad man

It's true I can't tell a man how to spend his money, but a man who has my money saved with him....I think I need to know what's up with him financially to know my money is safe with him.

Hmmmm

Access bank. Incase you need to design HVAC system or maintenance of ACs and generators.

I'm a freelancer and available. I and my team are up to it...

Just PM

Xerxes2088:

God bless you.....infact their running costs reduced by maybe as much as 70% during this lockdown, so for them to start sacking even before opening their doors fully on opened there was a problem before the lockdown

Is their income the same? Are they not bleeding revenues? Don't they owe debts and investors? Did their obligations reduce?

Sometimes you guys just don't think

jamesversion:



Boeing has suffered this period and will layoff staff, British Airways is also laying off staff once normal activities resume. After the end of Covid-19 proper, alot of companies will layoff staff to stay afloat. This is the reality on ground.

Access bank layoff was expected, with or without Covid-19 since the merger with Diamond bank resulted in duplicity of branches in same location. Access bank gained Diamond bank customers but since they're located same place, many branches will have to be closed. whichever branch they decided to retain will only put extra workload on the staff.

But uncertain times await many business after this Covid-19 issue and Access bank has only taken the pragmatic decision to stay afloat and competitive now and after the virus.


We would learn of more job cuts in different sectors in due time. You can bank on this.

This is an informative piece and not the usual unenlightened piece found on NL.

I doubt Access bank is in any danger. If it was, clues would have been gotten from the CBN or from the market.

They are digesting Diamond's bank and getting rid of the expected excess fat that resulted mercilessly. Wigwe has never been one to send.

As you've said, many companies may face Corona induced collapse or distress and only time can truly tell the state of things. Let's pray all Nigerian banks can weather this storm, mainly for the sake of depositors' funds.

Xerxes2088:

Yeah I understand them sacking some staffs cause of the close proximity of some diamond and access branches...but sacking 75% of it's work force....might just say something could be wrong deeper than just the close proximity of branches, 30-40% would be understandable..but 75%

75% is quite a high number. That means a lot of Access bank staff will be included.

Please note that Access bank is notorious for the use of contract staff. It will mostly be contract staff that will be affected and not those staffed.

Whether contract staff or not, 75% is a high number. It may actually be 75% of Diamond bank staff.

So funny how majority of news are not even related to Customers deposits. They think Contract Staff welfarism is more of value than Deposit, Investment and other type of money the bank run..

The main reason Bank employ contract staff is to facilitate and service Bank deposit and other activities day-day. When such is not coming as it should and reserve is dropping, what will you suggest? Let business ruin all in name of Welfarism.... You better let them read their Contract condition for you

kayfra:


Is their income the same? Are they not bleeding revenues? Don't they owe debts and investors? Did their obligations reduce?

Sometimes you guys just don't think

If you bothered to read my second statement you would see where I was insinuating that perhaps Access bank might have had trouble long before the lockdown/covid-19 stress.

Secondly as someone pointed out earlier in this thread that for a tier 1 bank to feel so much stress as to warrant sacking 75% of it's workforce in such a short period doesn't tell well, and I second him.

Finally you can pass your message across without insults...cheers