Deposit money banks sacked 1,936 workers last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The affected workers included executives, senior, junior and contract staff, the ‘Selected Banking Sector Data’ of the NBS stated.

The workers were drawn from commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. While a large number of the workforce was sacked, others resigned.

According to the data, banks’ workforce fell to 93,090. This was worse in 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of businesses, including banks.

When the economy was reopened, after the over three months’ lockdown in 2020, some banks shut their branches, while others reduced work hours.

However, as at the end of 2020, the sector still maintained a staff strength of 95,026.

Findings also showed that staff strength declined, the lowest in the last four years.

In 2018, bank had the highest staff with 104,669. It fell in 2019 to 103,610 and 95,026 in 2020.

A breakdown of the data for last year showed that in the first quarter, banks’ workforce was 94,681 before sliding to 92,780. It dropped further to 92,699 in the third quarter and rose slightly to 93,090 workers.

Yearly, executive staff fell to 249 from the 257 recorded in 2020, while senior staff fell to 16,738 compared to 17,381 employed in 2020. Junior staff fell from 37,590 workers in December 2020 to 36,514 last December.

Contract staff were the highest employee of banks, but they recorded a decline to 39,589 in 2021 from 39,798 in 2020. (The Nation: Excluding Headline)

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