In a bid to meet up with the recapitalisation target set for the insurance industry, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc has commenced its process, by slashing its operating expenses in a restructuring exercise that will allow it meet the deadline.
The insurance firm allegedly laid-off about 60 staff recently so as to reduce cost. However, this development did not go well with the affected staff as they staged a protest last week to express their grievances over the issue.
Distressed employees warned the management to rescind its decision to retrench the majority of them or face industrial action. The protesters urged the management under the leadership of the managing director, Mrs. Rachel Voke Emenike, to “withdraw all such sack letters immediately through the same medium they were disseminated to avoid any chaos in the company.”
The affected workers accused the company’s managing director, Mrs. Emenike of being biased, pointing out that those affected by the retrenchment exercise were mainly members of the ASSBIFI and NUBIFIE under the umbrella of the Coalition of IGI Staff.
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Responding to the allegations, the Head, Corporate Communications, IGI Plc, Mr. Steve Ilo, said the staff were disengaged in continuation of the ongoing turn-around programme targeted at reviving the company.
Ilo said, “For the Management, it was a hard decision to make. But the measure was long overdue and it had to be taken in order to save the company from sudden death. The past years have been very challenging for IGI as a business, a situation that called for a strategic review of our costs across the board to ensure efficiency and eliminate obvious redundancies. This was what triggered a couple of tough decisions, including the inevitable downsizing.”
He further, revealed that the management has made provision for immediate palliatives to help cushion the adverse effects of the layoff on the staff concerned, adding that, in accordance with the company’s staff handbook, their monies in lieu of notice, their ex-gratias are ready for collection, saying, this is pending the final payment of their severance benefits.
“The company is working assiduously to meet the recapitalisation deadline and are very optimistic and encouraged by the level of our progress so far”, he disclosed.
