East African Portland Cement (EAPC) has revealed that it will only hire on contract terms from now on. This follows massive layoffs last week that will see EAPC retain 600 out of the 800 employees.
In a press statement, EAPC said this was a cost-cutting measure as the firm wants to reduce the run-away operational costs that saw it make losses amounting to KSh8 million daily.
Acting managing director Stephen Nthei said that employees are allowed to reapply while adhering to the new terms of service.
Nthei stated,” at the end of the process, the current employees will apply for newly configured jobs as will be defined in the new structure on a contractual basis.”
There were fears that last week’s layoff would slow operations but Mr Nthei clarified that the restructuring will take place in phases thus keeping the firm running
EAPC has been slowly reducing its workforce while transitioning to contract jobs. For instance, at the end of June 2018 – there were 936 employees; 448 permanent workers and 488 contract workers. The number has since reduced to 800 employees.
EAPC MD noted that the current costs were very high with low productivity. The contracts will reflect a performance-based appraisal system with EAPC focusing to rehire tacit knowledge and skills developed over time.
