RHB offering voluntary exit option to permanent staffs

Someone forwarded me a news I read earlier in a local English daily. It’s about RHB Capital Bhd’s voluntary exit option which is also known as Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). Does this mean that Malaysia is facing a bleak future for the banking industry? Haha. Please look at all the reported earnings for all the listed banks. If I answer you, it may not sound credible enough. Are there more of these options to come? I personally believe the answer is a firm Yes. Well, this is the second one, after CIMB. Actually, the number of staffs each bank needs to have must also correspond to the services it offers. The services are now becoming more online instead of offline. I have NOT been to any bank for at least past 6 months. I am however doing my online banking transactions every other day.
Think rationally and objectively, the usage of online banking has already propelled many of these bank websites into top websites in Malaysia. The same situation has already happened in Singapore too. Instead of listening to some of the half-baked sales staffs telling you about insurance, unit trusts or even other investment products, , reading through good powerpoint slides or brochures via my phablet is better! Financial awareness and knowledge would grow in tandem with the growth of any country.
According to Maybank Investment Bank (MaybankIB) Research, using CIMB’s earlier exercise as a benchmark, this exercise would cost RHB a total of RM332 million but would save the group up to RM219 million each year moving forward. In fact it may bolster FY16 earnings by about 8%. This will help reduce the number of RHB staffs by 15% or about 2,700 staffs. Earlier, CIMB Group MSS involved a total of 3,599 personnel including 1,891 in Malaysia and 1,708 in Indonesia.
This is definitely not an easy time but truth is, not many organisations would be looking to conduct these during good times. In fact it is always during harder times that organisations become even stronger while the weaker ones disappear. I have always believed that the banking sector of Malaysia is strong and I think RHB’s proposed action is a correct one. Keep reading.
written on 4 Sept 2015
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