MUMBAI: Axis Bank has terminated more than 50 mid-level managers as it restructures its business and cuts cost under a new chief executive. As executive vice-presidents and vice-presidents, the affected officials led various supervisory functions in corporate and retail banking.These roles became redundant after the new CEO reviewed the business, and the lender could not find suitable jobs for them in the hierarchy, two people familiar with the bank’s staff reorganization told ET. The exact number of executives retrenched could not be independently ascertained.“There has been an overhaul of the business and some mid-level people could not find space in the new scheme of things. They have been told to find another job. This has rattled many old-timers in the bank,” said a person familiar with the reorganisation.Axis Bank, replying to ET’s queries, said in a mail that changes are afoot at the bank to raise ‘productivity and efficiency’. The lender did not refer specifically to the jobs lost, saying instead that manpower reduction was not central to its reorganisation plans.“...the bank has been working on multiple initiatives aimed at streamlining processes and simplifying the overall organisational structure,” said Rajesh Dahiya, executive director, corporate centre. “While a few employees have opted for early retirement as a result of this process, the bank has no plans to reduce manpower.”Since taking over as CEO in January, Amitabh Chaudhry has changed the organisational structure, brought in new people and changed business strategy to a low-risk, high-growth orientation. The bank’s operations are split in such a way that origination, risk and monitoring are under different heads. Every departmental head, including the technology and risk managers, directly reports to the CEO.“There is some unease at the way new people have been brought in while some in the senior management from among the old-timers have been left with truncated portfolios. Some have left and some others are seriously contemplating moving out. A large part of it is the cultural change brought about by the new CEO, which is expected when a leadership change happens. Chaudhry has taken control and takes all the decisions,” said the second person cited above.In an interview with ET late January, Chaudhry had said that by making the IT, digital, head of coverage and a new post of chief credit officer report to him, he is making a statement that these verticals are important for the future.“We’ve told internally to continue to invest heavily on technology and risk-management because we need to beef up resources there. We’ve already done a lot of work (on risk management), but some new areas we want to invest in,” Chaudhry had then said.