Capitec Bank is planning to hire 600 new employees over the next six months.
This is according to Capitec’s chief executive officer Gerrie Fourie, who released the bank’s interim financial results for the six months ending 31 August 2019 on Thursday.
Capitec’s profit bonanza
Capitec’s decision to hire more staff is made possible by its 18% rise in operating profit before tax, amounting to R3.8 billion.
This has seen a corresponding 20% increase in dividends per share to 755 cents from 630 cents.
Fourie said, “We’re fortunate to be growing, continuously hiring new employees and not retrenching.”
He said Capitec is seeking data scientists, coders, and service consultants.
The bank has already hired 149 new employees since February this year. Its full staff compliment currently stands at 13,923.
It has a total of 834 branches countrywide and will open a further 21 in the second half of its financial year.
Bank strike
Capitec’s hiring spree goes against the grain in the banking sector as major banks contemplate massive retrenchments.
Standard Bank is closing a whopping 91 branches, a move that will affect about 1,200 employees.
According to Bloomberg, Nedbank is considering retrenching or redeploying about 1,500 employees.
This has led the South African Association of Banking Officials (SASBO) to call for a bank strike.
It is demanding a moratorium on retrenchments.
SASBO says it will appeal Thursday’s Labour Court ruling that declared its strike, initially slated for Friday, 27 September, unprotected.