Top 10 Banks that Laid off Staff and Closed Branches in 2017

The year 2017 was a tough year for the banking sector in Kenya with many of them opting to lay off staff as well as closing down some of their branches just to remain afloat.

According to the Banking Sector Report released by Cytonn Investments Limited, most banks retrenched their staff, closed branches and consolidated most of their services on mobile platforms in an effort to cut on the cost of operation.

During the year, Equity Bank of Kenya laid off 400 employees and closed down 9 branches with Family Bank sending home an unspecified number of employees.

Barclays Bank of Kenya laid off 301 employees and shut down 7 branches followed by Standard Chartered Bank which let go of 300 employees with 4 branches closing down.

Sidian Bank, First Community Bank, and National Bank send home 108, 101 and 150 employees respectively with Bank of Africa opting to retain the employees but closing down 12 of its branches.

Ecobank closed down 9 branches while NIC Bank laid off 30 employees with an unspecified number of branches being shut.

Kenya Commercial Bank dismissed 223 employees in 2017 and closed down an unspecified number of branches.

The total number of employees who lost their jobs from the banking sector in 2017 according to Cytonn stood at 1,620 with 39 known branches having been shut down.