06 Sep 2021

A total of 390 bank employees have ended their contract of employment with various banks in the country since the advent of COVID-19.

This was revealed by Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development, Mr Mpho Balopi in response to a question in Parliament on Friday.

Minister Balopi said 151 employees left employment voluntarily or through mutual agreement while 239 left through the normal course of business such as resignations, end of contract and retirement.

He said the major reasons for reducing the number of employees could be attributed to the use of technology or automation of existing products and services that resulted in the reduction of manual work that required physical presence of employees.

Also, he said some banks also closed their branches due to lack of business as it was the case with the State Bank of India, which closed its shop completely.

He further stated that the banking sector was one of the most unionised sectors in Botswana, with much organised social dialogue structures hence the labour inspectors had tripartite meetings with banks from 2019 to date to discuss a variety of issues like staff welfare, updates on training and localisation.

Bobonong MP, Mr Taolo Lucas had asked the minister to state the number of those who had left the employ of banks since the advent of COVID-19. Ends