Johannesburg - MTN SA plans to reduce its permanent and temporary workforce as
a result of the decline in the economic environment, the cellphone
company said on Monday.
"Approximately 403 permanent employees may be affected towards
the end of March next year, which comprises about 7% of
MTN SA's 4 679 permanent employees," a statement read.
The company would also be reducing the number of temporary
employees in its service during 2010.
To mitigate the effects of possible job losses, a proper
consultative route, firstly to avoid retrenchments and
redundancies, and secondly to mitigate its adverse effects will be
followed, in line with legal requirements.
"Severance of two weeks' pay for each completed year of service
is payable and if retrenchments are inevitable, affected staff will
be given time off to seek alternative employment well in advance of
working their notice periods."
Re-employment agreements would be entered into for a period of
six months.
"In light of greater efficiencies that are being achieved,
together with the decline in the customer base, it is foreseeable
that fewer resources will be required in the near future. Since
approximately 3 000 people are supplied to MTN by temporary
employment services, these numbers would also be reduced during
2010."
In addition to the reductions in its workforce, MTN was
"re-engineering" its business in response to an outlook of lower
growth due to the global recession and Rica compliance issues.
These initiatives included business process re-engineering in
order to achieve process delivery effectiveness, seamlessness of
operations and fast, responsive turnaround times.
Another initiative was the centralisation of support centres and
services in order to create economies of scale, integration and
consequently, greater efficiency.
The company would provide franchise opportunities on selected
MTN SA outlets, and in so doing decrease operating expenditure
substantially.
Other initiatives included increased innovation in all segments
of the MTN SA value chain and the reduction of costs and the
curtailing of unnecessary expenditure throughout all levels in the
company.
There would be an increased and targeted focus on sales and
marketing strategies aimed at revenue creation and financial
sustainability and the delivery of a robust, quality network to MTN
SA's customers in order to retain the existing customer base.
MTN said its South African subscriber base had - linked to the
recession - declined from 17 231 000 at the end of June 2009 to
16 419 000 at the end of September 2009, which translated into
"negative net connections" of 750 000.
- Sapa