Tuskys fires employees as profits dip
One of Kenya’s major retailer Tusker Mattresses Limited has announced plans to lay off some of its employees in various departments over reduced profitability.
Through a letter addressed to its employees, the firm stated that it was restructuring and needed to lay off some of its staff due to a tough business environment.
In a notice dated February 19, 2020, the retailer announced that the company’s performance in the last two years has been on the decline.
Drop in sales
“As such the company has embarked on a process of restructuring its operations to ensure financial viability. This has been orchestrated by a drop in sales and in customer numbers even as the Kenyan retail sector continues to experience growth with entry of big multinational players,” said Tuskys General Manager in charge of Human Resource, Francis Kimani in a letter to one of the affected employees.
The most affected staff are those attached in the facilities department who will be declared redundant in a month’s time, effective March 19, 2020.
The retailer has already started issuing redundancy letters to affected employees. The family-owned supermarket has 65 branches across the country and in Uganda.
In addition, it has a staff base of over 6,000 employees. Tuskys did not reveal the number of staff that had been affected by the purge.
Tuskys joins an increasing number of companies which, responding to policy changes and a tough business environment, have opted for this move to remain afloat.