Telkom Kenya Employees To Re-Apply For Positions Under Merger Deal With Airtel

Fired Telkom Kenya employees have a chance to get back to work after the telco’s announced that it will advertise and interview the employees for positions in the combined entity.

In a statement, the operator noted that the notice, which is subject to regulatory approval, is in line with the law, and that the second recruitment has to be performed before employees move to the new entity.

“Subsequently, 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,”

This comes a week after it had announced a one-month notice to lay off approximately 575 of its employees(71% of all staff), on account of redundancy as a result of the merger with Airtel.

Telkom CEO Mugo Kibati said that employees whole lines of business have not been affected will be retained in a redefine Telkom organization, subject to positions being available in the new organization and those individuals meeting the recruitment criteria.

Airtel Networks Limited and Telkom Kenya Limited have already signed a binding agreement to combine their respective Mobile, Enterprise and Carrier Services businesses in Kenya and are expected to begin operating as Airtel-Telkom.

The deal has, however, been met by opposition from a group of former Airtel employees who had gone to court opposing the merger deal, they want the India-owned carrier to compensate them on a Kshs 1 billion bill.

In a letter written to the Communications Authority, about 52 former employees of Airtel want the regulator to hold the approval of the merger pending the conclusion of the case.

Featured Image Courtesy: CGTN Africa.com