Due to the tough economic times, 2023 has been a year of depressing news having various companies issuing profit warnings and mass firing.
This left many Kenyans in the red, with most of them let go by struggling companies.
In addition, other companies offered continuing employees voluntary early retirement options, a move most companies introduce to reduce their wage bill.
Most of these companies listed similar reasons as to why they were letting go of so many employees.
These reasons include tough macroeconomic conditions, internal restructuring and reduced demand for services mainly due to unprecedented disruptions in certain economic sectors.
Here, The Kenya Times lists five major local and international companies that announced mass firing, and reasons why.
Standard Media Group
In September, Standard Media Group issued notice to all staff of its intention to declare redundancy as the listed company struggled to remain afloat.
However, these were the clouds before a storm since the embattled media house constantly graced headlines in 2023 over delayed salaries and other financial woes.
In an internal memo, the media house said the plan to trim its payroll would cut across all departments.
“The affected employees will be duly informed in writing,” said Standard Group Acting Chief Executive Officer Joe Munene then.
Also Read: Standard Group Announces Mass Layoffs Again
Reasons for this move were noted as restructuring of the business to adopt a leaner, more efficient structure, and shifting trends in media consumption.
Barclays Bank Mass Firing
In November 28, international money lender, Barclays Bank announced mass firing targeting more than 900 jobs in its British business.
Barclays bank announced that this move was aimed at cutting cost intended to boost payouts for their shareholders.
Furthermore, the company hoped to cut costs in a bid to improve its returns.
“We are taking a number of actions to simplify and reshape the business, improve service, and deliver higher returns,” a spokesperson from Barclays stated in an interview.
However, the UK based bank did not reveal the exact number of staff that would be affected.
CIC Insurance
In a recent internal memo, CIC signaled at an unspecified number of mass firing for Kenyan staff, further giving a voluntary early retirement option.
“Following the Staff Town Hall meeting held today, 3rd November 2023, the circular to all Kenya staff has been placed on the Intranet Jumuika where you can now access and familiarize with the contents,” the memo read in part.
This was despite improved financial performance by the insurer.
In this case, the CIC general insurance and life assurance earnings grew 21 percent and 23 percent to Sh7 billion and Sh4.3 billion, respectively.
Also Read: CIC Signals Mass Layoffs, Gives Employees Option
Consequently, due to the increase in profits, CIC Insurance Group resumed dividend payout for the first time in four years.
KPMG
Audit and accounting firm, KPMG, announced mass layoff of 110 employees in the UK.
In the announcement, KPMG blamed a subdued deals market and a tough economic environment as the main cause for the layoff.
“A challenging economic environment has driven a softening in a number of markets, including the deal markets. These conditions have impacted demand in certain areas as some clients have chosen to pause or delay projects,” KPMG further explained.
Notably, the firm had had other mass job cuts in June 2023 that saw 125 employees leave the company. These job losses affected 2.3 per cent of its UK consultants.
Export Processing Zones (EPZ) Mass Firing
7,850 employees of Ashton Apparel and Mombasa Apparel in a Mombasa EPZ stared at job losses due to a planned sale by the EPZ.
Additionally, both Aston and Mombasa Apparel companies were to be transferred to a company named Gokaldas Exports Limited.
As per findings by the National Assembly Committee on Labour, the EPZs had been under the ownership of a single investor and had employees accumulating to 7,850 whom the new investor declared intentions to layoff.
Also Read: EPZ Clarifies Mass Firing of Employees After Sale of Company
However, this was later clarified in a statement by the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) on November 29, who commented about the impending firing of workers at the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) company.
“On Wednesday, 25th October 2023, it was resolved, outlined and agreed upon by all parties in one of these engagements that there shall be no loss of jobs and termination of benefits for the employees with the upcoming change in ownership,” the company clarified.
Further, the Authority noted that the company was only changing its ownership but not fully shutting down.
Therefore, the reports noted that the company would be firing the employees only to hire them back depending on the requirements of the new ownership.
