Eskom plans to reduce headcount as part of its turnaround strategy.
Deputy president David Mabuza confirmed that Eskom has communicated its headcount reduction plan to the government as a shareholder. When responding to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday, he said that restructuring a company of Eskom’s magnitude will not be an easy task, and that the government's position was that Eskom must be supported to implement a comprehensive turnaround programme.
Eskom and the government have agreed to reduce headcount as part of the turnaround programme, without embarking on retrenchments.
“Our understanding is that Eskom’s headcount reduction, as well as the cost reduction strategy that the utility started implementing in 2016, are amongst efforts aimed at improving the utility’s financial sustainability. It is envisaged that this would increase efficiencies in capital and operational expenditure, including employee benefits,” said Mabuza.
The deputy president also said the power utility‘s restructuring process would be focused on achieving significant cost reductions and savings, while improving overall efficiencies.
He explained that the headcount reduction is part of Eskom’s 10 year Strategic Workforce Plan, which seeks to analyse and forecast the workforce that is required to execute the business strategy. “Essentially, Eskom’s workforce will reduce from 44,929 to 40,691 by 2030, which will be achieved through natural attrition, retirements, limited replacement of attrition and voluntary separation packages.
“This is informed by a range of factors within business categories, but most importantly, it prioritises replacement of critical skills, that is, engineers, artisans, technical officials, technicians and operators, through learner intake to offset the impact of attrition. The bulk of the reduction will still be achieved through attrition with 11 percent from voluntary separation packages,” the deputy president elaborated.
