As part of what Telkom Kenya says is a new round of realignment within the company, approximately 20 percent of the workforce will lose their jobs. It is also putting up billions in assets for sale in different parts of the country.
According to Business Daily sources, the telecom operator is expected to let 400 employees go in the coming weeks, leaving less than 2,000 employees in the company.
It is unclear who will lose their jobs, but one employee said he was worried about the future.
“I don’t know what my family and I will do if I lose this job because my husband still hasn’t found anything and I was supporting us and our three children,” said one woman who works in Nairobi for the telecom operator.
Overall, the move is part of Telkom Kenya’s cost-management moves that will see Sh300 million (US$ 3,54 million) in cutbacks and the marketing budget reduced to Sh700 million (US$8,26 million).
Dealers have also reported reductions in earnings after the company reduced their commissions from 14 and 18 percent to a maximum of 15 percent.
According to the company, the reduced commissions were an effort to protect its profit margins in the market, which is still attempting to overcome heated price wars that left the sector in the doldrums.
The company’s CEO Mickael Ghossein said that the moves would help reposition Telkom Kenya to be a force in the market.
“We are looking for a lean team and are in talks with the workers’ union to do it professionally before making a formal announcement,” he told reporters. “We are doing this because of the price war and won’t replace them even when things improve as our employee to customer ratio is still high.”
By Staff
