CSKA9JA: MTN Telecommunications giant to fire more employees

The Nigerian tech giant MTN is planning to reduce their workforce in the restructuring process of the company after being imposed by a huge fine. The Nigerian tech giant MTN is planning to reduce their workforce in the restructuring process of the company after being imposed by a huge fine. According to the sources from the MTN headquarters at Lagos, management was planning to downsize the number of employees, especially those in the lower cadre. This news came out recently just a few days after the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Michael Ikpoki and the Regulatory and Corporate Service Executive, Akinwale Goodluck exited the company. Ikpoki and Goodluck left the company following the imposition of a N1.04trillion fine on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). As a result of intense lobbying, the fine was reduced to N780 billion. Now, the company is in a process of restructuring. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the sources said,

“This is a difficult time for MTN. We are really facing serious issues. Because of this fine, the management has started cutting costs. Employees’ allowances are being reviewed. “The shocking thing now is that we learnt the management is planning to downsize, especially among the lower cadre staff. The plan is to do it silently. No announcement will be made of the sacking. People will just be paid off.” At the same time, some senior officials are condemning the news as rumors and stressed the point that at this point of time, the company need sufficient workforce to solve the issues. “It is a lie. It is not true. The organization is currently lean in terms of staff strength, so how do we manage sacking people again? MTN cannot be fighting battles at different ends,” the source said. They added,

“We are for now concentrated on how to resolve issues around the fine. For those who had been asked to go, it was not as if they were culpable in the matter, but the truth will be told at the right time. “For now, there is no plan to downsize. It may be in the future. MTN has become an institution. We are also currently working on how to get more workers.” Overall, there is a strong wave of news that a downsize is going to be inevitable as they have already started cutting salaries and allowances to deal with the fine of N780 billion. The fine is the result of late disconnection of 5.1 million MTN Nigeria subscribers in August and September 2015. After Ikpoki and Goodluck have resigned their posts were occupied by Ferdi Moolman as MTN Nigeria CEO and Amina Oyagbola as its head of Regulatory and Corporate Affairs. The company also announced restructuring, which was the cause of all recent developments.