A few days ago, Telkom Kenya announced its plan to let go 575 employees following an imminent merge deal with Airtel Kenya. Both mobile operators have been under the shadow of Safaricom for an extended period, and in a booming carrier market such as Kenya, the operators have been doing badly, hence a series of complex business decisions that saw it fit to combine their businesses for possible growth.
While the development has not been announced, there is a good chance it will happen sooner than we expect, bearing in mind that the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has already okayed the transaction. However, there appears to be a couple of issues that need to be addressed before a formal announcement. For instance, a couple of former Airtel employees have gone to court opposing the merger deal, and want the India-owned carrier to compensate them on a KES 1 billion bill.
That aside, Telkom has issued a statement on steps post-issuance of its recent redundancy notice.
“Telkom Kenya issued a one-month notice of redundancy, with effect from July 31, 2019, to its employees, informing them of the intention to terminate the employment of approximately 575 of its staff complement, on account of redundancy, as a result of the Transaction,” reads the statement.
According to the operator, the notice is in line with the law, and is an exercise that has been undertaken before employees are able to move to any other entity, and is still subject to regulatory approval.
“Subsequently, the intention is to advertise and interview Telkom employees for positions in the Combined Entity and its outsourced partners. Engagement of these employees will be guided by the Combined Entity’s recruitment criteria as well as the mapped positions therein,” concludes the statement.
