SAB to cut jobs
In much of the developed world, layoffs have become an increasingly common part of corporate life - in good times as well as bad. But for an economy like South Africa's, they don’t bode well. Not only does South Africa have the third highest unemployment rate in the world for people between the ages of 15 to 24, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Risk 2014 report (more than 50 percent of young South Africans between 15 and 24 are unemployed, with the official unemployment rate standing at 24 percent in 2013). The country also heads to the polls on 7 May 2014 for general elections.
Still, the soft drinks division of South African Breweries (SAB) plans to cut more than 10 percent of its workforce in a restructuring programme aimed at reducing costs, SAB confirmed on 15 April 2014, South African media reported. The confirmation came a day before SABMiller released its full year lager volumes.
SAB spokeswoman Robyn Chalmers said about 1,300 section 189 letters had been issued to management and frontline workers at Amalgamated Beverage Industries (ABI), its soft drinks business, while the estimated number of jobs to be cut was about 400. ABI employs about 3,600 people.
Moleko Phakedi, Deputy General Secretary of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), was quoted as saying that Fawu had requested a special meeting with SAB and ABI “to try and understand where they are coming from with such a high number” of possible job cuts.
The union had allegedly received a section 189 letter from ABI, putting the possible number of affected employees at 1,348, of whom 1,060 were Fawu members, Mr Phakedi said.
