Telkom wants to accelerate retrenchments
Telkom says it aims to speed up its retrenchment process in the 2016 financial year in order to create a “leaner and more productive workforce”.
The telco is 39.76% owned by government, while the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has a 13.25% stake in the company.
On Monday the group declared a dividend for the first time since 2011, after reporting a 60% rise in headline earnings per share for the year ended March 2015.
However, the group said that retrenchment, voluntary early retirement and severance package costs amounted to R591 million, for 1,025 employees.
“Within our workforce there are significant opportunities to create a highly ‐ skilled and productive team by ensuring that employees have the right skills and capabilities to support the changing business. Much like most telecoms operators globally, we must move towards a leaner and more productive workforce,” said Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko.
“As previously indicated,our aim is to achieve a staff cost to revenue ratio of 25% over the next four years.
“The 2016 financial year will see an acceleration of our efforts in pursuit of this objective. To this end,we will continue to engage with our major labour unions,” Maseko said.
Employee expenses were 3.7% lower due to the curtailment of the post‐retirement medical aid liability for in‐service members and pensioners, a 4.5% reduction in full‐time employee headcount and lower part‐time staff headcount.
This was offset by a 6.2% average salary increase for bargaining unit employees and a 6% average salary increase for management employees.
Telkom reduced its overall headcount to 18,333, from 19,197 in 2014.
The company initiated discussions with organised labour in April 2014, as part of a larger turnaround strategy. “The staff affected by this organisational restructuring, was limited to the management and specialist layers,” it said.
Telkom said it consulted with organised labour on an ongoing basis since 4 May 2014, regarding possible dismissals in terms of Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act.
At the end of September 2014, the Section 189 process was concluded in relation to the affected staff.
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