The Diffusion of Employment Flexibility in Nigeria’s Banking Industry: Its Nature, Extent and Causes

Abstract

The increasing globalization of the world economy in recent years has triggered debates on whether and to what extent organizations in non-Western countries will embrace Western-style HRM practices. In particular, the issue of employment flexibility has received considerable attention. This paper explores the level of diffusion of employment flexibility in the Nigerian banking industry, analyzing whether the organization of employment in the three locally-owned case study organizations is becoming more or less flexible, why and how. The results from this study indicate that there are different levels of diffusion of employment flexibility across the banks, with different patterns as well in the types of jobs with atypical employment contracts. These variations can be explained by differences in the strategic priorities of each of the firms, as well as the uneven impact of powerful pressures exerted by various institutional actors.

McDonaldization and Job Insecurity

“…In fact, McDonaldization leads to the reduction of labor to a commodity that can be purchased at will (Wu, 2009) so as to pay low wages and control employees, and this is evident in the sector where casual employees are contracted and disengaged without due compensation. Adeleye (2011) revealed that the effect of globalization has left many bankers sacked, and their positions replaced with casual and contract staff who are employed through outsourcing. He added that this is to frustrate Trade Union activities (control) of collective bargaining and with the intention of cost reduction (calculability) because they are paid lower than the permanent staff.…”

“…A feature of this employment is that the terms do not allow for unionism (control) and other benefits. Another feature is that they are often poorly paid (calculability; Adeleye, 2011; Adenugba & Oteyowo, 2012; Gunu & Olabisi, 2011).…”

“…Adeleye (2011) revealed that the effect of globalization has left many bankers sacked, and their positions replaced with casual and contract staff who are employed through outsourcing. He added that this is to frustrate Trade Union activities (control) of collective bargaining and with the intention of cost reduction (calculability) because they are paid lower than the permanent staff.…”

“…The innovation led to the introduction of an electronic banking system nationwide (Abefe-Balogun & Nwankpa, 2012), and one of the impacts was that many bank employees lost their jobs, while those who were lucky not to have been sacked began to live in fear of losing their jobs any time. Although few recent studies (e.g., Adeleye, 2011; Adenugba & Oteyowo, 2012; Gunu & Olabisi, 2011) have pointed out different reasons for the job insecurities, however, there is inconsistency in the line of their arguments on the causal factors.…”