KCB to Retrench 1,000 Employees

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) has announced that it has kicked off a process that will see over 1000 employees laid off. The Kenya’s biggest banking group by assets said in a statement that it has offered a voluntary program for its workers who are considering early retirement as the bank kicks off its transformation strategy.

According to the People daily, the bank has given employees one month to file their application for early retirement package. The package includes one and half months pay for every year worked and a 25 per cent rebate for loans with the bank. The package also offers the retrenched staff a free health insurance covering the remaining part of the year.

The bank revealed that the move was made necessary by the need to align the competing needs of adapting to a banking industry.

“At the beginning of this year I shared with our employees our vision to accelerate our market leadership in each of the markets we operate in,” said Group Chief executive Joshua Oigara.

Retrenched employees will also receive free training to adjust to the new life without a job.

“We understand that this is a big decision taken by our company, and one that will have an impact on some of our staffs’ personal lives. In line with this, we are offering comprehensive training workshops that will cover personal financial planning, entrepreneurship, business management and other important areas to employees who volunteer to ease the transition,” said Oigara as quoted by People daily.