Fresh from an adventure into the world of bankers, Medinat Kanabe uncovers the big problem of casualisation, and related issues currently bedevilling the industry, and how it is fast eroding the past glory of the once glamorous profession.
This package called Contract Staff in Nigerian banks .Not too long ago, clinching a bank job was big deal in Nigeria. It was like a key to success or literally speaking, an escape route from poverty. And the joy of such lucky person or persons knew no bounds. Naturally, bankers were therefore respected in the society. They were happy doing their jobs, in anticipation of their sumptuous monthly salaries, up-front payment, 13th month salaries, profit-sharing and other bonuses and goodies.
Children across board also dreamt of becoming bankers, and the mere thought of it got them studying assiduously for the right grades. Because demand was high, qualification parameters also became high, as applicants were expected to return with nothing less than a second class upper in their degree certificate.
All that however seems to have changed, as recent developments and findings show that banks are no longer the toast of job-seekers. The tides have shifted so badly that a lot of people no longer want to tough bank jobs, even with a long spoon. Chief amongst the root causes of this is the issue of contract staffing, which most bank managements have embraced in recent years. A corollary to this is poor salary that comes with it and what several of the victims refer to as ‘bad treatment.’ It is therefore common to see bankers, no longer in their impeccable suits and immaculate shirts; and the gaiety with which bankers of the not too distant past greet customers seems to be fast disappearing.
On Wednesday July 9th 2014, the House of Representatives moved to stop the practice of recruiting workersý as “casual, contract or temporary staff in the country’s labour industry including banks. A bill to limit casual or temporary status of employees toý two years passed second reading at the Lower House. It is an amendment bill to the Labour Act, 2004.
By the provision of the bill, employers are required to convert any casual worker in their organisations to permanent status immediately they clock two years working as temporary staff.
Sponsor of the bill, Emmanuel ýJime who argued that the practice created discrimination in the work place by making some workers inferior to others, told the House that there are many Nigerians working as casual staff for years in organisations without any indications that they would be converted to permanent staff.
“This situation means we have two categories of workers. We have the permanent ones and the casual ones in the same work place. This division is unacceptable and unhealthy for economic growth.”
It also seems like Nigerian banks are amongst the most guilty, with a larger percentage of their staff list belonging to this category.
One ex-banker who was forced to leave where he worked not too long ago told this reporter what he went through while working in the bank. The man who is now in his late forties said “I worked for 14 years as a contract staff without any form of promotion, so I decided to leave. Now I can see that I made a good decision.”
He joined the bank in 2001 and was glad he got himself a job in a lucrative industry.
”My family too were happy. I got the job with my ND which was the requirement at that time and was employed on contract basis, but I didn’t mind because I thought I would soon be upgraded to a permanent staff level.
“I was also happy doing the job, but gradually became sad when I realised that I didn’t have time for any other thing but the job, while the salary remained incommensurate with my workload. As the years went by, the job also became more stressful. You only know when you resume, but not when you close.
”I was single when I got the job, so I was okay with the little salary, but when I got married, it dawned on me that I didn’t have a job, as the money was not enough to take care of my family. There was a 2 year regular increment but it was very minimal.
“The increment was nothing to write home about because as you grow, your responsibility also increases. You are doing a five-man job: paying, receiving, issuing draft, doing almost everything but with very little pay. Interestingly, people see you as a big boy, not knowing that you are just struggling to survive.”
He therefore said the issue of contract staffing in banks is a big problem and called on the federal government to urgently look into it.
“A large number of those you see working in banks are mostly contract staff and this doesn’t happen in other countries. Look at Gambia for example, my bank opened a branch there and they insisted that they don’t recognise the contract staff thing. So it is peculiar with Nigerian banking industry, especially the new generation banks. The core staff are usually not up to 5 percent. It is the contract staff who receive meagre salaries that are doing the job, while the so-called bosses are just making the money and living big.
He explained that even most of the BSc holders are on contract and are paid as low as N55, 000, all in a bid to maximize profit and declare outrageous profits.
Another problem our guest also identified with banks, is the promotion pattern and condition for the core staff. “They give them high budget that they are not able to meet and when they don’t meet it, they are not recommended for promotion. Instead, they are sacked or advised to resign. I think the Nigerian Labour Congress should take a look at this.”
Asked if he would allow his child work in a bank, going by the current malaise in the industry, his answer was a big NO. “I don’t think I can allow my child work in a bank in this day and age. Banks are no longer places where people go to build their career. To be promoted too is a problem. If you don’t have a god-father or a rich father who can help you meet the budget or if you are not in the management clique, you will be frustrated out.
“Apart from that, you are restricted and you don’t know anything outside the banking industry. It is like a cage, the bank is in control of your life and you don’t even have Saturdays. These days, you don’t have Sundays too.
Asked to proffer solutions, the gentleman said the number one solution is for the contract staff system to be removed. He added that “My father used to tell us that, the old generation banks have specified time of attending to customers, which is between 8-4 and left bankers with time of their own; but now bankers don’t have time anymore, and as a family person, your marriage is threatened.
“Another development that needs to be attended to is the issue of god-fatherism. If you don’t have a godfather, you’re not likely to be promoted. You must be in the good books of the management team too, if not you will go nowhere. And this of course promotes a lot of hypocrisy amongst staff.
“The management posture is also such that they’re telling you that if you can’t cope, you leave. Often staff get to work only to find that you have been sacked without committing an offence, just because they want to meet up with profit target. Imagine you getting to work and trying to log onto your system, only to see a message saying, you should report to the HR and when you get there, you are handed a sack letter, without committing any prior offence.
“Also, those pecks that once made bank jobs the toast of job-seekers are all but gone; talking about pay in arrears, up-front, 13th month, profit-sharing and bonuses. So now, you just work for your salary, which is nothing to write home about.
Can you imagine that when I was in the bank, we didn’t have a water dispenser because they said they were cutting costs?
Another ex-banker, John, shared his sad story. “As a contract staff, I was showed the exit door after giving my best for years. This was to enable them bring on new contract staff, give them target, use them without converting them to full time staff, and later show them the door.
According to him, there is always this initial promise of conversion when you join as a contract staff, but this is a promise hardly ever fulfilled. “It is an experience I don’t want to remember,” he said, literally turning away.
John, who is in his early 30s said there is high discrepancy between the core staff and the contract staff.
“Despite the fact that both groups have the same qualification; sometimes the contract staff even have more qualification than the full staff, yet the system persists. A contract staff is thus made to accept anything as salary. You are easily belittled or looked down upon by the full staff, who see themselves as demi-gods and see the contract staff as second-class citizens.
“The full time staff also see it as a thing of joy to send the contract staff on unnecessary errands. It is not uncommon to hear expressions like, ‘After all, they are contract staff.’ A lady, who is a full time staff once threatened to slap a contract staff guy in my office. Fair enough, the bank manager intervened early enough and asked her to apologise.
Like most other people who land bank jobs, John said he felt on top of the world when he joined the banking industry in 2011. His family also felt their son had arrived. As a BSc. holder, John was also contented with the N40,000 package, convinced within that it was a matter of time before he would be confirmed as a full-time staff.
But when did banks begin to wear this toga of unattractiveness?
John said “The banking industry is faced with so many problems, among which are unproductive loans, inability of the banks to make or declare interest, hiring of contract staffs and paying them meagre salaries, frequent sacking of staff, amongst others”
Aside the problems above, John swore that he would do all in his might to dissuade any of his daughters from accepting a bank job, because of the amorous advances they receive from male customers and some randy bosses.
Bisola (not real name), a contract staff with one of the new generation banks said the mere fact that she works in a bank is causing problems in her family.
She said: “I started working in the bank in 2008, with my OND, which was the requirement at the time. I was very happy even though my take home as a contract staff was N31, 000.
I did not know that the bank had problems of remuneration and competition, too much stress and overwork, and promotion; otherwise I would not have taken the job.”
She insisted that the only reason she is still on the job is the general unemployment situation across board, adding that she will leave once she gets another job.
Another banker who craved anonymity said “I actually joined the default Savannah Bank exactly 14 years ago. My family and I were very happy with the job offer, but looking back, we should have been sad.
He recalled that he was offered a gross annual pay of N300,000, which boils down to about N25,000 per month, but didn’t mind because being a banker also comes with a prestige and respect.
He joined the banking industry with a first degree in Economics and immediately began to pursue a second degree also in Economics at the University of Lagos, but the stress of the job eventually forced him to abandon the programme.
In his opinion, things began to go awry with the industry the moment some bankers began to live above their means. Coupled with this is poor investment on career development for staff.
He said “The major problem in banking is that the job is so stressful that if care is not taken, you may not have time for other things in life including your family.”
The managements, he said, also treat staff with levity: “They sack without notice and sometimes without any reason, and with little or no entitlement. Because bank jobs are stressful, they are constantly looking for young people; so once you are above 40, just get ready to be offloaded. And yet they say life begins at 40.”
He said the only reason he is still with the bank is that he is waiting to be 10 years on the job, so he can qualify for his pension. Otherwise, he said “My thinking is already outside banking industry.”
Would he allow any of his off-springs to work in a bank?
“I do not think so,” he said with more conviction than the words seemed to carry. “I have been in the industry for sometime and I can tell you that the situation is the same across banks. My general advice to young people is to take up professional courses. That way, you can pursue your vocation, if for any reason you have to leave a paid job. I will never encourage my child or brother to work in a bank, except such a person insists. As for me, I entered the banking industry purely out of ignorance.”
Another former bank worker, who said she worked for three years with Oceanic Bank and one year with EcoBank, when they merged said she felt her dream had come to reality when she joined the bank, but later discovered that she had made a big mistake. “When I got the job I was very glad because before I graduated I had always had the desire to work in a bank. Every time I walked past a bank, I always felt like going inside to join them. My perception however changed after I joined the fray four years ago.”
She said the moment she stepped into the banking industry, her life ceased to be her own.
“I woke up very early to get to the office before 7.30am, sometimes 7.00am, and I don’t leave until we are sure that the account is balanced, which can be as late as 10pm or 11pm.
”The marketers leave office by 5.00pm or 6pm, while the operation staff are the ones who stay in the office to attend to customers. As an operation staff, if anything goes wrong, you might be in the office until 11.00 pm. Every branch has to balance their account so that it can reflect at the head office; and if the account of the day is not balanced, it means you have to resume very early to continue from where you stopped the previous day.
”So you work long hours under stress and must not fall sick. If you do, it is only when you’re dead that they will allow you go home. If you have to stay home for health reasons, you must present a doctor’s report to validate your claim.”
Like other respondents, she says the biggest problem with bank job today is the use of contract staff. “They want to employ OND holders instead of graduates, to cut cost. They use them like graduates and pay them lesser. They are called intermediate in the bank I was working in. I am an example of this because when I submitted my certificate, they refuse to employ on my BSc level, opting instead to take me on with my OND certificate. I thought that I might in the long run be able to present by BSc and get an upgrade or work hard and be asked to bring it; but we later got to know that as a contract staff there is nothing like conversion and I must confess, those of us who are contract staff were far better than the others.
She also said the intermediate staff are not treated well, as they are not entitled to the benefits a full staff gets. They don’t even have access to loan, even as low as N500,000.
To restore the past glory of the banking job, she advised that they should go back to the old days, eschew the contract staff system, and if there would, they should ensure that they don’t do the jobs of a full staff and not get the same benefits.
Continuing, she said “We even found out later that the salary we were getting wasn’t anywhere near what they said they were paying. They claimed they were paying us N150, 000 but all I was receiving was N65,000, which was later increased to N70,000 and then N80,000. When I left the job four years ago, I was being paid N85, 000. We got to know this when banks ran into problems and had to merge.
Bankers’ association responds
The National President, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, Comrade Olusoji Salako told The Nation that the association is against contracting and outsourcing of staff but added that the contract staff don’t belong to their association, so they have no oversight function over their affairs. He said they fall into the junior staff category, once they’re employed as contract staff, even if they hold a Phd degree.
“They are not our members and bank managements also know this, so we really can’t do anything for them. Even if you go to court, nothing can be done. We have tried severally in the past to stop banks from contracting and outsourcing but they have continued.”
Explaining that ASSBIFI consists of bankers from entry level of a senior staff to management level, also known as middle level managers, he said those who make the decision to employ these contract staff are usually the top managements.
He confirmed the various allegations from our respondents, and said “It is a terrible situation; anything they tell you is true. Most of them don’t have a choice. There was a time when I was advising people not to queue for these jobs, but they said they cannot just stay at home because there are no jobs out there. So the root cause of the situation is the high rate of unemployment in the country, plus we have a government that is not helping.
“If you go and tell them to leave the job, they may even pelt you with stones. Some of them have graduated for upward of 5 years without a job and you’re saying they shouldn’t accept the most casual job offer, which permanent job do you have for them?
“Some have been on these jobs for as long as ten years without promotion, but they prefer to remain there. And if they are sacked, you find them weeping, rather than rejoicing. During recruitment, you even see them fighting. Some of them even bribe to be recruited.”
He therefore said until the country is blessed with a government that can create employment opportunities or dissuade our young graduates from craving for white collar jobs, they will continue to accept the contract jobs.
“I just got back from Singapore; there are many graduates there too, but engaging themselves in doing different things. Many work in shopping malls and they are very happy. You don’t have to knot a tie every morning.”
Still trying to confirm if it is true that these companies pay below what they say they pay these contract staff, he said: “There is a company that recruits these graduates for the banks. The salaries of these contract staff are being paid by that company, so the larger chunk of their salaries goes to the company. Most of these agencies are subsidiaries of the banks, so what are you saying. We know all these things.”
“Even members of the National Assembly are not sympathetic towards these people because they have large amount of shares in these banks,” he said.
