Zain lays off 27 employees

May 10, 2009

ZAIN is to lay off 27 staff as part of a wider restructuring scheme.<br>“The affected employees will get suitable retirement packages and counselling to ensure that they progressively adapt to their next phases of life,” read a statement from the fir

By David Mugabe

ZAIN is to lay off 27 staff as part of a wider restructuring scheme.
“The affected employees will get suitable retirement packages and counselling to ensure that they progressively adapt to their next phases of life,” read a statement from the firm.

At a strategic meeting with senior Zain executives from all the 23 African and Middle East operations held late last month, the Group chief executive officer, Dr. Saad Al Barrak, announced a new programme intended to propel the firm among the top 10 global mobile telecom operators by 2011.

Drive2011, which will focus on customer-related services and commercial activities, while centralising or outsourcing non-core functions to strategic partners, is part of the firm’s vision that started in 2003.

On completion of the programme, Zain will have reduced its current 15,500 global workforce by 2,000, a 13% reduction across the board.

The process, the statement said, had already started in Zain operations in Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malawi and Sierra Leone. Drive 2011 is expected to improve Zain’s operating margin by 5% within 12 months.

“Drive2011 is one of the vehicles we are using to achieve efficiency in our services. We sometimes have to take painful decisions in order to provide efficient service to our customers,” Yesse Oenga, the Zain Uganda chief, said.

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