Psychosocial consequences of job loss after the financial sector clean-up in Ghana

Abstract

The Central Bank of Ghana (regulator) revoked the licenses of nine commercial banks as a clean-up effort to protect customer and industry interests. Consequently, some individuals lost their jobs. This paper explored the psychosocial effects of job loss due to the banking sector clean-up exercise by the regulator. Using a phenomenology research design, together with purposive and snowball sampling strategies, experiences from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 affected employees were compiled and analyzed. Our findings showed nuanced dimensions of the negative psychosocial impacts of job loss on the participants. Thematically, the participants experienced largely negative psychosocial consequences (sub-themes: social identity confusion, shame and embarrassment and harassment from customers) and familial consequences of group-level effects (sub-themes: effects on family of orientation, family of procreation), and individual-level effects (subtheme: spiritual father and fiancée). Our study suggests the urgent need to incorporate a psychosocial welfare-to-takeover/merger policies to avert potential mental health crises in future retrenchment exercises.