Uproar as NDB unveils retrenchment plans

National Development Bank workers allege they received a nasty shock last Friday when what the institution had termed a "closed day for training purposes", turned out to be an afternoon for each staff member to receive a letter regarding their future at the bank.

This week Business Week learnt that by the end of the afternoon, 14 workers had received letters notifying them of retrenchment by 01 September, while 34 had been asked to consider demotion or exit. Another 12 received letters of promotion. A shake-up of the 49-year-old organisation was expected ahead of its transformation into a commercial bank and its subsequent privatisation.