More than 300 Telkom managers have taken voluntary redundancy

By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – More than 300 managers at South African fixed-line operator Telkom SA have left the company voluntarily as part of a restructuring, the Solidarity union said on Thursday.

The partly state-owned company is slashing jobs from a management layer of 2,650, saying it aims to become more agile in a competitive environment. Most of those remaining from that total have been placed in new positions, but 104 do not have the skills needed for 168 positions yet to be filled.

Telkom had said on Oct. 14 it would cut a number of management posts by the end of the month, though it did not say at the time how many would go in its drive to bring down costs by 1 billion rand ($91 million) annually for the next five years.

The redundancies, first signalled by Telkom in July, reflect government efforts to tighten the screws on state-owned companies which have for years relied on government bailouts to remain afloat.

Telkom managers yet to find a new position might still lose their jobs, Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp said. "They are still trying to match that group of 104 within the 168 posts still available in the new structure. And those that cannot be reasonably matched will be forcibly retrenched."

Telkom shares, which have doubled in value so far this year as a result of a turnaround strategy being implemented at the company, were up nearly 2.3 percent at 55.74 rand by 1227 GMT.

Last week, Telkom said staff had suggested voluntary severance and retirement options instead of forced lay offs.

Staff who have not been appointed to a new role by the end of September would be issued with termination notices and they would have to leave at the end of October, it said.

"Simply placing people into positions, regardless of their competencies, qualification or experience just to avoid their retrenchment, would be a huge disservice to the business," Telkom said in its Oct. 14 statement.

The government holds 39.76 percent of Telkom and an indirect 10.61 percent through the government employee pension fund manager, the Public Investment Corporation.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Wednesday the government was aiming to improve governance in other public corporations such as South African Airways and the Post Office, and would sell some non-strategic assets to finance its power utility.

His Public Enterprises counterpart said on Thursday the country would consider a strategic partner for struggling flag carrier South African Airlines.