Telkom Kenya is set to merge with Airtel Kenya, thereby sending several employees into panic mode as job losses loom.
However, the telecommunication service provider has announced that some of its employees will survive the axe and get a soft landing after the merger.
The good news comes after the company announced that 72 per cent of its workforce (575 workers) will be laid off. This meant that only 225 workers are expected to survive. Fortunately, vacancies in the new Airtel-Telkom entity will be advertised and Telkom employees are encouraged to apply for assessment.
“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," the firm said in a statement Tuesday as quoted by Business Daily.
However, the merger has attracted opposition from several parties as it awaits approval by competition and communication watchdogs. Former Airtel staff have responded to the Communications Authority of Kenya gazette July 12 notice opposing the move.
The opposition has prompted Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to inform the Parliamentary Committee on Implementation that it will investigate how the agreement was arrived at.
“We will constitute a legal team to see whether EACC can temporarily halt further transactions on the deal to safeguard public interest,” EACC director of investigations Abdi Mohamud told the Committee on Implementation on Tuesday.