MTN SA yesterday announced it will be opening voluntary severance packages (VSP) and voluntary early retirement (VERP) for eligible employees, as part of its ongoing focus on cost-efficiencies and streamlining.
According to an MTN statement, the offer has been extended to all departments and business units, and it is not targeting any specific figure.
"The focus will remain on streamlined but sustainable operations, to best serve our customers," it says.
During a town hall meeting with CEO Charles Molapisi yesterday, MTN launched discussions with employees and key stakeholders, including the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
“VERPs and VSPs are only one of the company’s potential levers to pull, as we focus on measured and sustainable expense efficiencies.
“The offering of the VERP and VSP is in no way an indicator of pending retrenchments. This is a proactive offer, to those who may wish to use the attractive proposal as a way to seek new opportunities and perhaps the development of their own businesses,” MTN SA says.
“MTNers are creative, hardworking and diligent people, many with aspirations beyond the constraints of traditional corporate operations. We believe regular offers of this nature encourage people to pursue new opportunities, often entrepreneurial and technical in nature, helping to feed the industry as a whole.”
Jacqui O'Sullivan, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer of MTN SA, says the company “has no intention to consider any immediate or broad-scale retrenchments at this time. MTN SA is a significant employer and is proud of its role as a South African start-up that has grown to become an African powerhouse of technology and connectivity.”
According to O'Sullivan, the company's personnel transformation programme, which has been in place for the past two years, is continuing. It focuses on preparing the business with the skills and competencies that will be required for the telco’s and country's future in navigating the way through the fourth industrial revolution.
“This personnel transformation programme continues to support MTN's Ambition 2025 personnel objectives," she notes.
At the time of publication, CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala had not responded to ITWeb's request for comment.
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