South African telecom service providers – MTN, Telkom and Cell C – are slashing jobs to improve their financial performance.
More than 300 Telkom SA managers have resigned from the company voluntarily in the landline provider’s restructuring process, trade union, Solidarity said.
A Reuters report said Telkom is slashing jobs from a management layer of 2,650 posts to make it more agile.
Telkom has placed most of the managers in new positions, but another 104 do not have the skills required for an outstanding 168 positions yet to be filled. Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp said these 104 people might still be forcibly laid off.
According to Solidarity, Cell C is planning further retrenchments in addition to those that have already been announced recently.
The union revealed on 10 October that Cell C was in consultations which would affect the jobs of about 190 employees – either through possible retrenchment or redeployment in other areas of the business.
Cell C group said that the process of rightsizing its business was continuous. “Cell C is continuously assessing the operational requirements and needs of certain areas in the company to enhance efficiencies, streamline the business and avoid a duplication of functions.”
MTN said about 400 staff members stand to lose their jobs. MTN Group plans to lay off about half of its 850 managers in South Africa.
South Africa’s Solidarity union said in August MTN had plans to lay off 850 managers. After years of robust growth, MTN is facing increased competition both at home and abroad.
Meanwhile, MTN expects Nigeria to add 3.5 million subscribers by the end of the year against the earlier target of 5 million. The group attributed the decline in subscribers during the quarter to regulatory pressure and the unrest in the northern region of Nigeria.
MTN Group’s total subscribers increased 2 percent to 219 million. Total data revenue increased 34 percent year-to-date contributing 17.8 percent to total revenue. The South African operations added 1.4-million new subscribers to reach 26.7 million.
Pix source: GSMA
Baburajan K
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