The rank of unemployed Nigerians has swelled as Ecobank Nigeria and Enterprise Bank have retrenched a total of 2,000 workers.

The Tide source learnt in Lagos on Thursday that Enterprise Bank, one of the nationalised banks, sacked 150 workers between February 13 and 15.

In the same vein, Ecobank Nigeria, which recently acquired the troubled Oceanic Bank, retrenched 1,850 staff in what it termed the first phase of the bank’s repositioning exercise.

Mrs Olusola LongeOkenimkpe, the Head of Enterprise Bank’s Corporate Communication Department, said that the retrenchment affected those who performed below the satisfactory level and were given the option to resign.

Longe-Okenimkpe said, in the statement, that the workers who resigned would be paid all their entitlements.

“The new business model is not meant to reduce staff, but to expose underperformers who are contributing little or nothing to the bottom line,” she said.

The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Jibril Aku, said that the bank would ensure that all disengaged staff were treated fairly and in line with industry practices.

“Our focus in the new enlarged Ecobank is to ensure a smooth integration of the two banks whilst working to improve the quality of service to our customers and our operational efficiency,” Aku said.

Meanwhile, a statement from Ecobank said that the bank had also promoted 1,000 workers.

The statement quoted Aku as saying that the promotion provided unique opportunity to 600 non-core staff to become permanent employees.

The managing director said that the bank would continue to acknowledge and reward exceptional performances.