Internet Solutions has begun a restructuring that is likely to lead to retrenchments. The company may lay off as many as 200 staffers, TechCentral has learnt from two separate sources with knowledge of the developments.
Support and installation teams are said to have been given letters and asked to reapply for their jobs. A well-placed source said the impending layoffs come after the Internet and telecommunications provider, which is owned by Dimension Data, failed to meet earnings forecasts.
The letters were served on affected employees earlier this week, one of the sources said.
Market talk about possible retrenchments first surfaced in late June. At the time, Internet Solutions MD Saki Missaikos said in an e-mailed response to questions from TechCentral that it is not the company’s policy to comment on speculation.
However, on Thursday Missaikos confirmed that the company announced to staff on Tuesday this week that it is “entering a formal consultation process to reorganise the business”.
“Given we are early in the process, we unfortunately cannot confirm the final impacted numbers,” he said.
In a statement issued later on Thursday, Missaikos said: “As one of South Africa’s leading Internet service providers, it is Internet Solutions’ responsibility to continue to innovate our core connectivity, cloud and complementary business enabling services, in a way the market wants to consume them.
“In years past, we introduced a decentralised, segmented business model. While we achieved some successes with this approach, we created process and service delivery complexity. Therefore, Internet Solutions is simplifying its business model to increase responsiveness with offerings that enable self-service, enhanced visibility and flexibility,” he said.
‘Comprehensive assessment’
“Realising this vision requires a comprehensive assessment and redesign of our infrastructure, processes, technologies and skills. In the past two years, we’ve sold non-core infrastructure assets, implemented more automation, partnered with leading vendors and refocused our technology and people investments to accelerate the delivery of software-defined services.
“Our next step involves a thorough review of the required skills mix to drive the next phase of evolution. On 17 July 2018, we announced to staff that the business is entering into a formal consultation process in a move to be more agile and responsive. However, worth noting is that the process is in its infancy and no final impacted numbers can be confirmed at this point.
“Evolving our business is challenging, but we aim to navigate this process in a way which is best for our employees, partners and our business,” Missaikos said.
Dimension Data acquired 100% of Internet Solutions — then known as The Internet Solution — in January 1998 in deal valued at over R400-million. Dimension Data is owned by Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. — © 2018 NewsCentral Media
