Deposit Money Banks (DMB) and other banks reduced their staff strength by laying off 8,584 workers in one year, according to a latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This brings the total number of bank workers in the country to 95,026 as of December 31, 2020 as against 103,610 recorded as of December 31, 2019.
Many employers downsized their workers and slashed salaries last year as the COVID-19 pandemic affected the economy and the ability of businesses to make profits.
During the lockdown, bank branches were shutdown across the country and only some reopened a month after due to the gradual reopening of the economy.
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The financial institutions were also unable to recover loans due to the the lull in business experienced by their customers.
The selected banking sector report showed that a total of 5,552 contract staff had been laid off in the course of the year reducing the number by 12.2 per cent from 45,350 to 39,798 while the number of junior staff had declined by 5.78 per cent or 2,306 from 39,896 to 37,590 at the end of December last year.
Similarly, the number of senior staff had declined by 4.39 per cent or 1,799 to 17,381 from 18,180.
The number of executive staff rose by 39.67 per cent in the course of the year. compared to 184 executive staff in the industry as at December 2019, executive directors in the industry increased to 257 at the end of last year.
 and other banks reduced their staff strength by laying off 8,584 workers in one year, according to a latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).){kind=link}