Digital ‘disruptor’ eats jobs at SA banks amid unemployment crisis

South Africa’s big banks have recently reported stellar earnings growth as part of their spirited bounceback from the Covid-induced slump. But not all is back to where it was prior to the pandemic, as banks continue to shed jobs to adapt to the digital era. 

Earlier this week, Absa reported that in the first half of 2022, the banking group increased its headline earnings by 27% to R11-billion. The bank has more than recovered from Covid-19’s onslaught, with all of its key measures above the pre-pandemic levels recorded in the first half of 2019.