Telkom SA Pushes on with Management Retrenchment Plans

Telkom South Africa has announced it will reduce its management team by an unspecified amount over the coming weeks as part of its restructuring and cost-cutting plan.

The fixed-line operator has received strong opposition to the plans but has maintained the stance that the action is necessary in order to “secure the future commercial sustainability of the business”.

Initially discussed in July, the goal of the strategy is to reduce costs by R1 billion annually for the next five years, making the 2,650 people currently occupying senior positions a prime target for such drastic savings.

While the exact number of people to be let go has not been revealed, Labour organisations such as the Solidarity union and South African Communications Union (SACU) have been outspoken in their opposition to any such measures.

Around a quarter of the South African population are currently unemployed, and the Solidarity Union have threatened to take legal action against Telkom as a consequence, demanding that the company retracts redundancy notices sent to its members.

A company statement has refuted this notion however, confirming that it had carried out its retrenchment plans in line with legal obligations.