Diamond Bank Plc has fired 200 workers as it continues to grapple with a financial slump which saw profit before tax for the first quarter of this year fall to N6.04bn from the N7.94bn it recorded in the first quarter of 2015.
The bank, led by Uzome Dozie, confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday.
Unconfirmed reports, however, said the number of workers who were laid off in the exercise carried out on Friday, May 27 was 400.
Confirming the sack, the bank said the disengagement of 200 workers was in line with its strategic plan to drive shareholders’ value.
The statement reads: “Diamond Bank recently rightsized its workforce. The rightsizing was a core strategic exercise in line with the bank’s growth objective and the will to continue the drive to optimise cost and enhance value for the shareholders at the end of the business year.
“In the bank’s last appraisal, only 200 staff whose performance scorecards were adjudged to be lower than the minimum required to drive its strategic growth plan for the business year were relieved, with the opportunity to seek employment in other organisations where their respective skills set and individual performances could be enhanced and optimised.
“The yearly appraisal is a general industry standard and enables banks to prune their workforce and prudently allocate resources for optimum result. Diamond Bank is not an exception in the industry and therefore, had carried out its annual appraisal and found the performance of members of staff that were relieved to be below the required minimum performance level that would sustain them in the system. With its trim-and-fit workforce, the bank is sure to meet its target for the current business year.”
Insiders claim the bank was aiming to reduce its N800m monthly wage bill significantly and was also considering pruning workers in the managerial cadre by 80 per cent.
The bank denies the claim.
