Feelers emanating from MTN Nigeria indicated that the telecommunications firm might be nurturing plans to reduce its workforce by sacking a sizeable number of its junior employees.
This is coming one week after the first indigenous Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Michael Ikpoki, and the Regulatory and Corporate Service Executive, Akinwale Goodluck, exited the company.
Ikpoki and Goodluck left the company following the imposition of a N1.04tn fine on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for not cutting off over five million unregistered Subscriber Identification Module cards.
Following intense lobby, the Federal Government has now slashed the fine by 25 per cent to N780bn. Reliable sources at the Lagos headquarters of the company said that the management was planning cut down on the number of employees, especially those in the lower cadre.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the sources said, “This is a difficult time for MTN. We are really facing serious issues. Because of this fine, the management has started cutting costs. Employees allowances are being reviewed.