SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE: PnP job shedding shows how tough it is out there
Things are tough in retail after a few ratings downgrades, anaemic growth, political chaos and a continued rise in unemployment
The news that Pick n Pay has retrenched 10% of its workforce came as a bit of a shock. But it shouldn't have, at least not this week, anyway. Neatly tucked away on page 45 of the company's booklet for its annual results for the year to end-February, released in April, was this sentence, if anyone had bothered to read that far: "... Pick n Pay launched a voluntary severance programme (VSP) in March 2017, that is expected to be finalised by the end of April 2017." If you missed that, it was mentioned again on page 11 of the annual report, which was released in June. So the company, which released an update on the process on SENS this week, was surprised that we were all surprised. But yes, it was still surprising - actually, more alarming. It's the first time Pick n Pay has launched a group-wide voluntary severance programme. Crikey. How bad is it out there if retailers that sell essentials such as food are taking strain? After all, this is the company that, in 2015, said it would cre...
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