Steward Bank, Zimbabwe’s largest bank by customer base, says it is revising its structures and operations to adapt to technological changes, a move that will see the organisation downsize its staffing levels, resulting in about 140 (20%) of its staff being retrenched.
In a communication to staff that has been seen by Techunzipped, the bank’s chief executive officer, Mr Courage Mashavave, said the reduction in the number of employees followed the deployment of the bank’s new core banking system and its on-going digital transformation, which had optimised the bank’s operational processes and rendered some roles redundant.
“Following the successful deployment of our new core banking, additional automation of our banking processes and the investments we continue to make in our digital transformation journey, Steward Bank has embarked on a retrenchment exercise to rationalize its staffing levels,” the bank said in a statement this afternoon.
“Our investments in technology have necessitated the optimization of our organizational structure and the need to reduce staff numbers consistent with our changed operating model.
“The bank is consulting with all the affected employees, together with the Works Council, to ensure clarity and transparency in the process and to, as much as possible, mitigate the impact this change will have on the affected staff”.
“Steward Bank remains committed to delivering quality services to our customers and supporting all the affected staff and stakeholders.”
