Banking executives said last week the situation had deteriorated to levels where "some employees had to be sacrificed and those on contract were the first casualties".
The situation is not only confined to major multi-national banks, local institutions were also struggling to adjust to the prevailing conditions.
The advances departments at most banks had become the biggest losers as financial institutions no longer give out loans to depositors in a dollarised economy, where the local unit has lost its function as a store of value.
Staff that used to be busy when the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) became big business and those who were employed to process cheques has also been affected.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Dr John Mangudya, the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe chairman, were fruitless as he was attending a series of meetings throughout the week.
However, executives were hopeful that the US$2 billion Sadc initiative would boost confidence in the sector.
"It helps in developing confidence because it is financed through the financial sector," an executive said last week.
Blessings Mujuru, president of the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers’ Union (ZIBAWU), said the workers’ representative body had not received any official communication on the state of affairs in the industry but said negotiations were being done at the Works Council level.
"These things (forced leave) are being agreed at Works Council. The councils are also negotiating for salary increases," he said.
Sending of workers on forced leave comes at a time when a number of financial institutions had announced plans to close down some of their branches citing declining business.
Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited will close two of branches in Harare and Chitungwiza.
Mujuru said the retrenchment of workers at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) would encourage other banks to follow suit. "If the mother bank retrenches, it encourages other banks to also retrench," he said.
Mujuru said salary negotiations in the industry were ongoing and a meeting was scheduled for Monday to resolve the impasse.
ZIBAWU had bargained for housing, transport and cost of living allowances separately but employers said they would offer US$40 for allowances.
Employers then said they would offer US$40 as cost of living allowance but without catering for transport and housing.
"They (employers) then upped the offer to US$80 as cost of living excluding transport and housing and negotiations resume on Tuesday," Mujuru said.
thezimbabwestandard
Post published in: News