There is panic and restlessness at the National Carrier, Kenya Airways, following reports that most of its employees will lose jobs in a restructuring which is imminent.
KQ is a shadow of its former self after posting a series of poor results, that has seen the company’s share price lose value significantly at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. Financial Statements from the company indicate that it posted a pretax loss of Ksh 11.8 billion in half year results from Ksh 12.4 billion in 2014.The losses are expected to remain constant unless the company reconsider reorganizing its business strategies.
In 2014 Kenya Airways hired McKinsey and Seabury to help it come up with a strategy to increase profitability. Part of the recommendations will be to retrench its employees who take a lion’s share in terms of salaries and renumerations.Though the airline has not adopted the report, it’s believed that early next year it will start issuing dismissal letters to some of its employees.
This is not the first time KQ is threatening to dismiss a large number of its workers. In 2013, the company dismissed over 100 employees but court ordered the company to reverse its decision. Later, former Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni left the company, leaving it on its knees.Mbuvi Ngunze was appointed to replace Naikuni but his leadership has not been felt as the company faces closure.
It’s now obvious that more than a quarter of Kenya Airways employees will go home through retrenchment. This includes several managers and pilots.
Kenya Airways is not alone.Uchumi Supermarket is set to lose most of its employees to its rivals Tuskys and Nakumatt as the company sets to close down some of its chain stores. One of the stores which will be closed in 2015 is Uchumi Taj Shopping Mall branch, which was opened in 2012.The closure is due to the expansion of the Outering-Airport Road expansion which will affect Taj Shopping Mall.
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