Jobs panic in Bahraini banks
Gulf International Bank's decision to axe nearly 20% of its workforce on Monday, has prompted fears that further cuts could be on the cards and that another three banks are mulling redundancies in the kingdom.
The Bahrain Bankers' Union has said that it expects another three local banks to announce redundancies in the next month and that the organisation was preparing to handle a raft of cases from redundant workers.
"I heard a Bahrain bank and others are talking to their staff friendly and telling them 'prepare yourselves for layoffs by the end of the month'," Khalil Zainal told the Gulf Daily News.
The banks haven't been named to avoid panic among workers. Obviously, redundancies in Bahrain are relatively rare, and GIB's decision to make 57 redundancies was met with protest by staff this week.
Bahrain's banking sector has been showing some signs of strain recently.
After a $5.7m loss for the first quarter of 2009, BMB Investment Bank said it would be "assessing the sizing and structure of its staffing levels in order to bring about an optimum level of efficiency and effectiveness".
Meanwhile, Gulf Finance House, which was on something of a recruitment drive last year, posted a first quarter loss of $37.7m.
Ratings agency Fitch has said that it expects retail banks like National Bank of Bahrain, BBK and Ahli United Bank to see lower profitability this year due to slower loan growth, and continued pressure on asset quality.
