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Over 2 000 employees to leave Telkom

Johannesburg - Close to 2 400 Telkom employees have accepted voluntary severance packages with most of these workers set to face their last day at the company on Friday.

Trade union Solidarity said on Thursday night that 2 393 employees’ applications for voluntary severance packages have been accepted by Telkom.

Last month, Telkom announced plans to cut 4 400 jobs through voluntary severance packages or voluntary early retirement packages. Telkom also plans to outsource another 3 400 jobs as part of an ‘enterprise development’ programme.

The company subsequently issued a section 189 notice which deals with retrenchments.

But the Johannesburg Labour Court earlier this month ordered Telkom to suspend its section 189 notice following a legal challenge by trade union Solidarity. The union alleged that Telkom failed to consult properly regarding the job cuts.

Telkom, though, has maintained that it needs to cut jobs as a business imperative, and the company has in the interim focused on voluntary severance packages.

“Given the volatile climate within Telkom, we anticipated that a significant number of employees would prefer to leave the company,” said Marius Croucamp, who is the head of Solidarity’s communications industry.

“Nonetheless, we remain highly concerned about the exodus of skilled Telkom workers and how this will affect the company’s future endeavours and delivery of services,” Croucamp said.

Telkom has reportedly confirmed with technology publication TechCentral that 2 393 employees have accepted the voluntary severance packages and that most of these employees are planned to leave the company on Friday.

The other employees have deferred departure dates, according to the publication.

Currently, Telkom has approximately 18 000 employees.

The job cuts form part of Telkom’s turnaround plan in a market where demand for voice services is falling.

As a result, the telecoms company is increasingly shifting its focus to data and other services while trimming its workforce to reduce costs.

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