Maravi

Zain to lay off 141 workers in Kenya

Zain to lay off 141 workers in Kenya
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Thursday, April 02, 2009 3:29:51 PM

ZAIN will lay off 141 employees in Kenya while studying its operations in other countries to determine whether to cut more jobs or not, in a bid to withstand the global economic crisis. According to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper, Zain Africa chief executive officer Chris Gabriel announced on Monday that the mobile phone company would reduce its workforce by 20 per cent in Kenya in its efforts to cut costs.

Gabriel disclosed that the pending job cuts were part of the firm's pre-planned restructuring aimed at withstanding the global economic crisis.

"Kenya is the first and we are looking at all the operations progressively," said Gabriel in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.

Gabriel said studies would be carried out in other countries where Zain operates to evaluate whether it should cut more jobs or not.

However, Zain's decision to lay off workers has angered some Kenyans.

One of the on-line readers of the Daily Nation demanded that the Kenyan government stands up against Zain and protect jobs of its citizens.

"Where is the Kenya government and the Ministry of Labour? What is their main purpose if not to protect the interest of Kenyans?" the reader asked. "The government of Kenya is ignorant and that is why Zain says it is starting with Kenyans first, why not in other countries first? Some countries have warned these foreign companies from sacking its local citizen even in this economic crisis. They must maintain the current staff."

In February, Zain Zambia managing director David Holliday said there was no guarantee of jobs for employees of the country's largest mobile phone service provider in the wake of the global economic crisis.

"I am not looking at many redundancies but again we have to be as efficient as possible. So, we are evaluating all the time how we can be as efficient as possible," said Holliday.

Labels: JOBLOSSES, KENYA, ZAIN ZAMBIA LIMITED PLC

posted by MrK @ 2:30 PM