Islami Bank has terminated nearly 4,700 officers and staff in just over two months, with another 200 still on the layoff list. According to bank officials, they were recruited without proper assessment during the period when the institution was controlled by S Alam Group.
At the same time, the bank is preparing to hire almost 5,000 new employees.
The bank began dismissing employees on 29 September, citing violations of employment rules. On that day, 200 officials were suspended and 4,771 were made OSD (officer on special duty). In several subsequent phases, 4,500 of those placed on OSD have been dismissed as of Sunday.
On 27 September, the bank authorities decided to terminate 4,971 officials and employees for failing to appear in a special skills assessment test. The Human Resources Division had instructed 5,385 staff members to sit the test. Of them, only 414 participated, and they remain employed.
According to the bank’s current management, the appointments of those summoned for the test were questionable.
Senior executives of Islami Bank told TIMES of Bangladesh that after the country’s largest private bank was forcibly taken over in 2017, S Alam Group appointed officers and staff without any assessment tests or certificate verification.
“When the bank was under S Alam Group’s control, about 11,000 staff were recruited. Most of these appointments lacked transparency. No formal recruitment notice was issued,” said Islami Bank’s Additional Managing Director M Kamal Uddin Jasim.
More than 6,000 staff appointed under S Alam’s tenure are still employed at the bank.
After the fall of the Awami League government in the July uprising last year, Bangladesh Bank restructured the Islami Bank board on 22 August of that year, ending S Alam’s seven-year unilateral control.
Bank documents show that of the 11,000 staff appointed between 2017 and 2024, 7,224 were residents of Chattogram, including 4,500 from Patiya alone – the home upazila of S Alam Group chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam.
To assess the qualifications and competence of these officials, the bank arranged an evaluation test through the IBA of Dhaka University. Some employees challenged the decision in the High Court, which directed Bangladesh Bank to settle the matter.
Bangladesh Bank responded that, as a profit-making institution, Islami Bank has the authority to assess staff competence because its financial performance directly depends on employee skills and qualifications.
Meanwhile, even as the termination process continues, the bank has begun new recruitment. It has already published vacancy notices for five positions, with recruitment underway for Trainee Assistant Officers (TAO).
A senior bank official said a notice for Trainee Assistant Officer (Cash) recruitment will be issued soon. The bank will also advertise for Management Trainee Officer (MTO) positions, which carry senior officer rank.
Confirming the plan, Kamal Uddin Jasim said, “We will recruit MTOs to strengthen the bank’s future leadership. The aim is to bring in talented individuals from whom future MDs and DMDs will emerge.”
After gaining control of the bank, S Alam Group borrowed nearly Tk131,000 crore – often under various proxy names. The current management has so far identified 77% of S Alam’s ownership stake in Islami Bank.
