Kenyan supermarket chain, Tuskys is set to lay off staff in the wake of a dip in sales and customer traffic.
Tusker Mattresses Limited has already notified the affected employees saying it was reorganising its departments in a move meant to cushion it from further losses.
On Wednesday, through a letter to Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers (Kucfaw), Tuskys said it has been forced to declare redundancies in order to stay afloat.
“It has become apparent that the company’s performance in the last two years has been on the decline. As such the company has embarked on a process of restructuring its operations to ensure viability,” said Tuskys Human Resource manager Francis Kimani.
“This has been orchestrated by a drop in sales and in customer numbers even as the Kenyan retail sector continues to experience growth with entry of big multinational players.”
It is not immediately clear how many employees will be affected by the lay-offs set for March but six unionised workers will be sacked.
The most affected staff are those attached in the facilities department who will be declared redundant in a month’s time, effective March 19, 2020.
The retailer has already started issuing redundancy letters to affected employees. The family-owned supermarket has 65 branches across the country and in Uganda and a staff base of over 6,000 employees.
