This is a scrap being fought in spectacular style in the social media, with trade union Solidarity launching an unprecedented campaign using Facebook, Twitter, a website, email and YouTube to try to derail Absa’s retrenchment process.

It’s a fascinating example of how power has shifted away from organisations and into the hands of the masses. But, really, it’s only the power of publicity that lies in the public domain, because despite the backlash, it’s still very much Absa and its majority shareholder Barclays that hold the ultimate say over who stays and who goes.