Scotiabank Jamaica is getting set to let a number of staff members go as its parent in Canada undergoes a restructuring exercise, says the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU). Alerted to this development, the BITU is looking for further clarity and is beseeching Scotiabank to ensure workers are fairly treated.

In its last quarterly press briefing, Scotiabank Jamaica’s CEO Audrey Tugwell-Henry said the bank would be pivoting to more digital transactions and that there would be a rationalisation of its branch network.

Last year Scotiabank announced that it would be closing two branches and turning six others into digital-first operating entities. The six branches to go digital would be: Port Antonio, Port Maria, Christiana, St Ann’s Bay, Falmouth and populous Portmore.

This move, the BITU says, will send many workers into unemployment at a time when the  COVID-19 pandemic is compressing business activity.

Only this week it was revealed that business and consumer confidence in Jamaica declined in the September quarter.

Tugwell-Henry’s predecessor, David Noel (who has relocated to Canada to take up a new role at Scotiabank), last year said the move to a more digital-focused model “will have an impact on staff but our main aim is not to lay off staff but to reposition them into other areas of the bank”.

Scotiabank spent J$1.5 billion in renovating its downtown Kingston headquarters and is looking to move away from relying totally on its traditional brick-and-mortar branches.

Some customers have raised concerns about what this will mean for the quality of service and laid-off workers will be seeking adequate redundancy packages.

Scotiabank, which is Canada’s third largest bank, has been making moves to simplify its geographic spread and a decade ago had a presence in 58 countries.

Group CEO Brian Porter last year announce: “We have radically simplified the bank’s operations, removed distractions and focused on the Americas. Today we are a highly competitive player in each of our core markets, with multiple avenues for growth.”

The BITU has said that, as Scotiabank looks to trim its payroll in Jamaica, workers will be displaced.

Kavan Gayle, president of the BITU, has spoken in dire tones of the impact of reducing Scotiabank Jamaica’s branch network.

“We have insisted that there has to be an investment in training for the workers because these changes will mean less customer dependency on the staff and more reliance on technology which many customers do not fully understand.

“But when the bank eliminates the branches and replaces staff with technology there will be savings in their expenditure, some of which we believe should be channeled into the development of the employees who are affected.”

HSBC banking analyst Rakesh Bakar, speaking with Our Today, said: “Many of the big banks who have operations down in the Caribbean are pulling back. RBC, CIBC, BNS, you know that. Operating costs there are just too prohibitive. Scotia has been divesting some of its international operations and are reducing head count.

“I suspect loan growth in Jamaica is anemic and is a drag factor. All-in-all the mothership has to satisfy investor demand and there has to be an account for this technology spend.

“It’s a tough time to grow revenues, particularly in the Caribbean. It’s going to be a dog fight among your commercial banks down there. Labour is the biggest part of non-interest expenses.”

Enquiries as to staff cuts were made to Scotiabank Jamaica and they were acknowledged with a promise to get back to Our Today on the matter.