The Group Managing Director/CEO, of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, has hinted at an impeding mass sack that he says will affect mainly outsourced staff, whom he says constitute some 75 per cent of the bank’s workforce.

Mr. Wigwe in a video call with employees which has leaked and gone viral on social media, also hinted at imminent heavy pay slash, announcing that he has taken the lead by reducing his own pay by as much as 40 per cent. He equally announced what he described as unavoidable branch closures as part of measures to keep Access Bank afloat in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

The Access Bank GMD is seen in the video saying: “We don’t need as many security men as required. Even to the fact that we are not going to have all of our branches open between now and December.

“We certainly don’t need all the security men, we don’t need all the tea girls; we don’t need all the tellers, etcetera. So, that number of staff which represents 75 per cent of our staff strength, is one that, I think, we basically need to speak with their employers with the view to getting them to rationalise to the levels that we think will be necessary to basically sustain a mean but actually customer-service oriented institution.

On pay slash, Wigwe says: “I will be the first to take the hit and I’m going to take the largest pay cut which will be as much as 40 per cent. The rest I will have to cascade right through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustments of some sort.”

A top source at Access Bank confirmed the authenticity of the video to News Express.

The source, who spoke on Friday morning on the condition of anonymity, stressed that the 75 Wigwe refers to in the video “constitute outsourced staff”, explaining that “it is their employers – not Access Bank – that would decide those to be affected.” He also stressed that the 40 per cent salary cut does not apply to all staff.

Contacted for comments, Abdul Imoyo, Head of Corporate Communications at Access Bank, told News Express: “I have no reaction.”

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