Business Report writes that British American Tobacco SA (Batsa) has entered into consultations with employees to retrench workers after the company’s sales revenues haemorrhaged following a five-month ban on cigarette sales.
The multinational tobacco conglomerate said on Friday that it had embarked on a process to optimize its operations in a bid to remain competitive as volumes had declined significantly. Batsa did not mention the number of employees to be affected by this optimisation, but said it had offered them “generous severance and retrenchment packages”. Btasa general manager Johnny Moloto said: “It is difficult to estimate the number of employees who may eventually be retrenched as a result of the proposed restructuring and efficiency measures as this is subject to the outcome of the consultation process and other avoidance measures.” Batsa has a workforce of more than 2,000 employees. Current production and sales are significantly below the 2019 volume. Despite this volume decline, Batsa has opted to save its Heidelberg factory for now and minimise the impact of job losses. The company also said that the huge trade in illegal cigarettes in SA over several years was forcing it to take corrective action.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphelele Dludla on page 9 of Business Report of 15 March 2021
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