BUSINESS CONSOLIDATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

Business consolidation has become a global phenomenon to achieve economies of scale and higher productivity. The need for financial institutions to merge becomes even more imperative in the face of the onslaught of greater competition arising from globalization and the pressure under the World Trade Organization (WTO) for countries to open up their financial market to further entry of foreign banks. For this reason, many countries are moving toward consolidating their banking systems and Nigeria cannot be an exemption. This paper is designed to examine whether Business consolidation of banks caused mass retrenchment of staff during and after consolidation exercise Secondly, to determine whether increase in size of consolidated banks creates more employment in the banking industry. The study uses Correlation Research Design. The findings of this study showed that Business consolidation had contributed positively to the employment of Nigerian Banking Industry - The sector employed 30. 846 staffsbetween 2005-2009. Banks should endeavor to increase the number of their domestic branches in order to increase employment in the Nigerian economy as it is only the number of domestic branches of banks that was a significant variable in explaining the variation in employment in Nigerian bunks.