Kalahari Sands jobs at risk

By: DENVER KISTING

THE global economic pinch has necessitated Kalahari Sands Hotel & Casino to offer all its 332 employees a voluntary retrenchment package.

Over the past four months, 24 workers have already left the hotel’s service.
Rudi Putter, the hotel’s general manager, yesterday described it as “quite a traumatic experience”.
“The company is going through restructuring and we are offering voluntary retrenchments,” he confirmed.
According to him, these packages were offered in consultation with the Namibia Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Nafau). “It is done to soften the eventual retrenchments,” he said.
Initially, the plan was to reduce the staff by 40, but he could not say at this stage how many jobs will ultimately be affected.
Other options are for some positions to become half-day jobs and for other employees to go on early retirement.
“There is a financial crisis in the world and it has severely affected the hospitality industry in Namibia. So one has to adjust your cost structure with the reduced levels of income. Visiting a hotel is discretionary spending. So it affects us negatively,” Putter said.
Kiros Sackarias, the general secretary of Nafau, declined to comment. “I really do not want to comment now. Mind you, the people are still negotiating. So I don’t want to jeopardise [the negotiations],” he said yesterday.

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