Tuskys Supermarket Disputes Claims Of Mass Layoffs

On February 21, 2020, a couple of media houses reported that Tuskys Supermarket had laid off its employees citing tough economic times.

The reports filled the air that the largest retail chain in Kenya was sending home some of its employees as it was planning to restructure and work on its future strategies. The exact number was not revealed.

A leaked message which was said to be coming from one of the affected employees read “Regretfully, you are among the employees whom Tusker Mattresses Limited can no-longer continue to offer employment and will terminate your employment contract with effect from March 19, 2020, on account of redundancy.”

However, Tuskys has strongly dismissed the claims stating that ‘though the economy is proving to be tough, it cannot make such a rash decision which would affect its employees’ wellbeing.

The retailer further said that the reports by the media are misleading as the supermarket was only making changes which affected one department where only five workers were sent parking.

“We have 6200 employees. One department called facilities (read repairs & maintenance) has 20 employees. We have decided to outsource that service to specialists. In that decision 5 people are impacted,” one of the Tuskys officials clarified.

The Chief executive officer of Tuskys sent an official statement saying the reports by the media were erroneous.

“Specific to the notification sent out to the union, U wish to reiterate that the same was done in good faith and as part of proper corporate governance requirement. Regrettably, the same was leaked to the media for ulterior purposes.

“Due to specific adjustments undertaken to derive value on our non-core operating units, that has now been outsourced to the specialist firm, we have declared 5 roles redundant. As is required by law, we have made the necessary notifications to the relevant agencies and are currently engaging the impacted staff to facilitate a smooth transition.”

Tuskys CEO affirmed that “the Board of the management team is alive to the hard economic times facing everyone and the company will remain empathetic to the welfare of the staff members.”

READ: Tuskys Sends Home Employees Stating Tough Economic Times