Significant staff reductions will be in the Automotive and Logistics business, Equipment Southern Africa and the Corporate Centre.
In an effort to adjust to the damaging impact of Covid-19,logistics and fleet management company Barloworld has announced plans to institute group-wide retrenchments, which will be implemented by the end of the current financial year. The company issues a trading update on Thursday explaining, among other things, that there would be some particularly significant headcount reductions in the Automotive and Logistics division, Equipment Southern Africa and the Corporate Centre.
The company, which has more than 15?000 employees, said that it had implemented a variety of austerity measures to lessen the impact of Covid-19 outbreak. However, while effective in reducing costs, those measures have not been enough to avoid having to implement retrenchment processes as the business has been severely affected by the pandemic.
“As previously indicated, the board and management are committed to the implementation of prudent measures aimed at reducing and containing costs in an effort to preserve cash in the immediate period while ensuring the medium to long term strength of the organisation,” said the statement The full extent of all the cost savings will be communicated in due course,” said the statement.
“The health and wellness of our employees is of paramount importance to management and the board. Over and above ensuring that we adhere to all workplace regulations announced by the Governments of the countries we operate in,” we have implemented additional measures to assist employees navigate this uncertain, changing and stressful period.”
Barloworld said it had been supporting employees through this difficult period, providing individual psychological support, as well as support from managers and executives Employees will also receive “emotional impact pre-recorded content, career change/transition support that includes strengths-based assessment and feedback sessions, and three months post-retrenchment support that includes continued employee access to all wellness services, and face-to-face counselling limited to high risk cases.”
