Kenya Commercial Bank set to lay off staff citing technology changes and dynamic regulatory regime
Tier 1 lender Kenya Commercial Bank has announced that is set to lay off a section of employees in what it attributes to technological changes and a dynamic regulatory regime.
According to the bank, the process will be within the confines of the law.
“The review which is an ongoing process that has seen us re-look at our workforce has been done in keeping with the best business practice in an industry that is undergoing a major transformation,” the bank says in a statement.
This is the fifth bank to announce layoffs and early retirement programmes from 2016 to date.
Last year, Standard Chartered Bank announced that it will be relocating its Shared Service Centre to India, affecting 300 jobs.
The same year saw several banks including Community Bank, Eco-Bank and Sidian Bank also announce early retirement programmes affecting nearly 600 jobs last year.
The banking sector has continued to experience tough times with three banks being put under receivership as well as interest rates control introduced in August 2016.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Kenya to remove the controls, which limit interest rates to four per cent above Central Banks’ lending rate, citing that they are likely to reduce access to credit and weigh down growth.
