Vodacom announces job cuts

Vodacom Group Ltd. is planning to cut jobs at home in South Africa, its biggest market, to help reduce costs.

Africa’s largest wireless company by market value expects to cut about 80 jobs, the Johannesburg-based Vodacom said in response to queries on Monday. The firm employs about 5,400 people and the reductions will be at all levels of the company, it said.

“We routinely ensure that our business operations are fit for purpose as we transition from a telco to a leading technology company,” said a spokesman for Vodacom. “Additionally, Vodacom South Africa continues to proactively implement various cost reduction measures to ensure sustainable operations and maintain financial resilience.”

Tepid growth in South Africa, where the official jobless rate is 32.1%, and a plunge in metal prices is prompting companies to shed jobs to reduce costs. The nation’s platinum producers are in the process of trimming more than 6,000 jobs.

“We will pursue all alternatives to retrenchments,” said the Congress of South African Trade Unions spokesperson Matthew Parks. “Vodacom has made massive profits and there is no justification to retrench a single worker.”

Vodacom’s net income rose 9% to R8.5 billion ($447 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, while costs jumped 37% to R28 billion.

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