The East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) has announced plans to retrench 1,000 employees in 2017 at a cost of Sh2 billion.
The Athi-river based company which is listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange, currently has about 1,500 workers.
The Blue Triangle cement manufacturer has indicated that it will sell an idle 2,000 acre piece of land at cost of Sh10 billion, to compensate affected workers and use the balance to restructure the company.
Addressing the press Friday, the Company's chairman Bill Lay said the cement manufacturer is overstaffed compared to the rest of its competitors, and recommended 500 workers as the most suitable and manageable number.
EAPCC reported a Sh6.1 billion loss in the year ending June 2016 as staff costs represented 31 per cent of its revenue at Sh2.7 billion.
The company owns more than 14,000 acres of land which the government has expressed interest in acquiring the land for the purposes of building industrial parks and extension of the Export Processing Zone.