At least seventy workers at Tigo-Rwanda could count themselves jobless in a move that the firm’s Chief Executive, Tongai Maramba, says is in line with an ongoing restructuring exercise to respond to recent developments in the sector.

In an exclusive interview yesterday, Maramba said the changes are meant to make Rwanda’s second largest telecom firm stronger at a time when the sector is experiencing new developments in customer needs and technology evolution.

"The decision is in response to developments in the telecom industry. The sector is projected to grow slower than the economy and we have to align ourselves to that reality,” Maramba told The New Times.

Tigo directly employs more than 350 workers, a good number of them outsourced. The 70 workers who have been laid off account for at least 20 per cent of the firm’s total workforce.

The telecom industry is facing challenging times and the changing trends in mobile technology require sector players to be dynamic to stay relevant in a fast-evolving market.

For instance, developments in the sector had rendered many jobs irrelevant in the telecom sector and required that they are either phased out or transformed to address those new needs.

As a result, Tigo will be advertising new positions and, according to the chief executive, the first opportunity to fill the new vacancies will be given to those affected by the restructuring process.

But the new vacancies will not be more than half the number of workers relieved of their duties; however, it will be soothing enough for some to know that there’s still a chance.

"The market should be excited that we are releasing some of our staff because Tigo employs some of the smartest and highly efficient personnel who have the capacity to walk straight into other jobs anywhere,” said Maramba.

Tigo’s layoffs are somewhat ironical given that, only last month, it celebrated a milestone of hitting more than three million active subscribers, behind MTN, whose own numbers are slightly over four million in a market of 8.57 million users, 76 per cent of the population.

But the sector is facing challenges and the players are under pressure to boost data-user penetration as well as voice call whose revenues have been dwindling.

"We need to boost data-user penetration as Internet services become a core element of our business; that calls for more affordable Smartphones on the market,” said Maramba.

Airtel teeters

The Tigo layoffs already follow reports of a similar move at Airtel-Rwanda, the youngest player on the market, currently boasting 1.5 million active subscribers.

As of yesterday, staff at Airtel-Rwanda were so anxious that even the brightly painted walls of its headquarters at Remera did little to lift the gloom shadowing a looming layoff.

For both telecoms, there couldn’t be a worst timing than this, coming when staff are heading into the long festive season as well as the early months of next year when schools reopen after the holidays.

An Airtel agent, though unlikely to be affected by the looming development, managed a light joke yesterday when he said; "Father Christmas seems to be mean to us this year, he has arrived at our workplace not to give us gifts but to take what we already had.”

That will certainly be the case of at least 40 per cent of the telecom’s workforce to be affected by the reorganisation, who have already been informed that their services are not required starting January, according to inside sources.

Airtel-Rwanda employs at least 107 permanent staff with another 150 workers who are outsourced; it’s not clear which of the two categories will contribute the alleged forty percent to be laid off.

However, a well-placed source intimated yesterday that about 30 workers will be laid off, including three top managers and several mid-level managers.

The corporate social responsibility and mobile money departments will be most affected by the austerity layoffs of Rwanda’s youngest player in a three-horse industry, the source added.

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