First Bank allegedly fired contract workers after making them train their replacements

For many contract workers at First Bank of Nigeria, the calculation was straightforward: work hard, pass performance reviews, stay patient, and eventually become permanent staff. Some waited five years. Others waited 10.

Last Friday, according to multiple accounts on social media, that wait ended abruptly for hundreds of them, not with confirmation letters, but with termination. And the way it happened, one former employee claims, was particularly cruel.

The new staff arrived one morning at First Bank branches across Nigeria. Ten people at some locations, fewer at others, depending on branch size. Everyone assumed the bank was simply recruiting. Only a few people knew what was actually happening.

Managers asked existing non-core staff to train the newcomers. Show them everything, how to check account balances, post transactions, open accounts, and navigate the system menus. The workers patiently taught them step by step, depending on the department.

They had no idea they were training their own replacements. Then came what X user OMOLUABI (@oluwakso) described as “that brutal day.”

Workers arrived at the branches as usual and tried to log in to the system. One after another, they couldn’t get in. Everyone assumed it was a network problem. Messages were sent to IT support asking whether the system was down. Some IT staff who received those messages discovered they couldn’t log in either.

Then the SMS messages started arriving from First Bank: “Your service is no longer required. Thank you.” No warning. No meeting. No explanation.

“That moment when the reality hits you and one question starts ringing in your head,” OMOLUABI wrote in a thread detailing the alleged layoffs.

The post unleashed responses from people sharing similar experiences.

“If you were a non-core staff with First Bank and you JAPA, you probably don’t even know what the Lord has done for you,” the user posted Monday. “Another tsunami has happened again, as usual. People who spent 10 years or more there know exactly what I mean.” He added.

Multiple users claimed the alleged layoffs happened last Friday, March 6, targeting contract staff who had worked at the bank for over 10 years.

Annual renewals that never became permanent

Contract work in Nigerian banks operates on a pattern many workers find exploitative. You’re hired on a one-year renewable contract for non-core roles, customer service, operations support, and relationship officers. The contract renews annually, creating the illusion of stability.

Conversion to permanent staff supposedly happens through exams and performance scorecards. You take the tests. You meet your targets. The contract is renewed again. And again. Five years have become 10.

“The annoying thing is these people give their lives to the jobs, no room to attend interviews or do other jobs,” one person wrote.

Banking hours that usually run from 8 am to 6 pm, sometimes later, make proper job hunting nearly impossible. Workers convince themselves that the wait is worthwhile because confirmation must be coming.

The former contract workers also claimed that the bank imposed a nearly impossible 70% scorecard based on KPIs as criteria for confirmation, something they weren’t aware of from the onset.

One former contract worker explained the system: three chances to write conversion exams before age 33, after which you’re essentially stuck.

“For you to work 10 years without conversion, you should look for other offers,” he wrote.

But calling it complacency misses the reality. These workers weren’t lazy; they were trapped between steady income and uncertain job prospects in Nigeria’s difficult economy. Walking away from a monthly salary to chase opportunities elsewhere feels impossible when bills need paying, and families depend on you.

Similar read: Amazon set to layoff 16,000 employees amid AI integration

Consider spending your entire twenties at one company. You learn the systems, build client relationships, and train new hires who eventually become your managers because they were hired as permanent staff while you remained a contract employee.

You skip important events because you can’t take leave. You decline job interviews because “maybe this year they will confirm me.”

Then one Friday, your access is revoked. Ten years mean nothing. You’re 32, 33, maybe 35. You have “First Bank” on your CV and limited recent experience outside one role. Former colleagues who left after two years are now senior managers elsewhere.

Why banks maintain indefinite contract systems

First Bank is not the only bank using the contract system. Nigerian banks routinely keep workers on contract for years, extracting their labour while avoiding obligations that come with permanent employment, better severance, pensions, and job protections.

Reports emerged about layoffs as banks rushed to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalisation deadline of March 31. First Bank had announced in January that it had satisfied the ₦500 billion requirement ahead of schedule.

However, achieving capital thresholds often necessitates reducing costs, and contract workers are typically the easiest expense to cut.

First Bank confirmed a major restructuring between December 2024 and January 2025 that saw roughly 100 senior staff exit.

Whether fresh layoffs happened last week remains unverified by First Bank. But the social media accounts suggest real pain from people who gave years to an institution, only to be locked out one morning while the people they trained took their seats.

Technext reached out to First Bank with the allegations, but has yet to get feedback as of the time of publishing.

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