Standard Bank gives assurance on jobs

TJIPENANDJAMBI KUHANGATHE mass job cuts at Standard Bank South Africa will not affect Namibia, Standard Bank Namibia has confirmed.

Standard Bank South Africa recently announced that it will be closing 91 branches in that country, cutting about 1 200 jobs.

The closure is expected by June this year.

The South African bank has, however, promised its employees a comprehensive exit package which significantly exceeds the requirements set out in the relevant labour acts.

Standard Bank Namibia’s marketing and communications manager, Magreth Mengo told The Namibian last week that the bank has no plans to retrench.

She said the article that has been circulating relating to branch closures in South Africa has nothing to do with Standard Bank Namibia.

The closure of branches in South Africa is a result of the bank moving towards a digital banking model, Mengo said.

The Namibian previously reported that approximately 1800 jobs in the banking industry will be lost due to banks providing most of their services online.

This is the view of the secretary general of the Namibia Bank Workers Union Moses Mumba, who said some jobs had been lost already in the sector during 2018, but the trend will continue for the next five to 10 years.

Banks are moving away from the traditional way of banking towards digital banking, as they believe that it gives one access to personal and business accounts anytime and anywhere, Mumba had said.