MTN South Africa began “consultations” with employees on Wednesday “in keeping with relevant employment legislation” as it prepares to implement a big shake-up in its MTN Business unit, which provides services to corporate clients and small and medium enterprises.

It said these employee engagements continue for the next few weeks. An MTN South Africa spokesman confirmed to TechCentral that there will be a reduction in MTN Business’s employee base, which numbers 560, but couldn’t say how many might be retrenched.

In a statement, the mobile operator said the shake-up is aimed at strengthening its competitive advantage in the enterprise business solutions market.

“MTN is reorganising the unit to implement a new go-to-market structure that will enable MTN Business to optimally serve its customers and partners. This is in line with a revised group-wide business model that seeks to reposition MTN’s enterprise business unit for future growth and service excellence,” the statement says.

MTN South Africa’s newly appointed chief enterprise officer, Alpheus Mangale, said: “We are reorganising to enhance our customer service and market differentiation. We also acknowledge that the success of the new structure lies in a strong value proposition for our employees.

“To this end, as we reorganise ourselves to focus on specific markets in a changing ICT environment, we will also be making investments in attracting, developing and retaining our talent. We plan to venture into certain market segments, and to successfully do so, we need to acquire the right set of skills.” — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media