Against the backdrop of the need to ensure the nation’s socio-economy is not further heated up in the aftermath of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the leadership of the banking industry, led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Saturday agreed that there would be no job loss.
Recall that the pandemic has resulted in a lockdown of business outfits for over one month, as part of efforts to check the spread of the virus with airways and land borders closed across the country and globally.
Rising from a special meeting under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee convened on May 2, 2020, the bank chiefs, however, noted the need “to minimize and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic on families and livelihoods.”
A statement by Isaac Okorafor, Director, Corporate Communications at the CBN, on Sunday, said the meeting further reviewed the implications of the pandemic on the Nigerian banking industry.
The meeting “particularly deliberated on the issue of the operating costs of banks in view of the disruptions emanating from the global economic difficulties and decided to suspend any form of lay-offs across staff cadres, whether full-time or part-time.
“To give effect to the above measure, the express approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria shall be required in the event that it becomes absolutely necessary to lay-off any such staff,” the statement added.
The CBN, therefore, solicited the support of all in a “collective effort to weather through the economic challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.”