The SA Post Office (SAPO) has not announced plans to retrench employees as part of its current program of reducing labour costs in line with its business turnaround strategy. Despite the fact that the percentage labour costs ratio is high, the reports of planned retrenchments are incorrect and the organization is instead implementing several alternative labour costs containment and reduction measures.
SAPO has, in consultation with employees and the unions, embarked on a program in which it has offered voluntary severance packages to qualifying employees and 776 applications have been approved. The total severance packages cost is R130m and the annual savings on labour costs through this program is R204m.
SAPO is also investigating other measures of attaining as much flexibility and variability as possible in relation to its labour costs structure, for example in the utilization of overtime and the sum of this cost item which currently amount to R42m per annum.
Enquiries:
Johan Kruger (Communications Division, SA Post Office)
Tel: 012 407-6652
Cell: 082 337 3116
