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1000 jobs on the line at Sasol

According to the Solidarity union, petrochemicals group Sasol is undergoing a reorganisation which can put as many as 1 000 jobs on the line.


"They are reducing their costs," said Marius Croucamp, a spokesman for Solidarity at the Johannesburg-based company.

According to BDLive, Croucamp said that talks with the union started in late November after Sasol and Boston-based management consultancy Bain & Company developed proposals to reduce the company’s size.

Sasol plans to save R3 billion from cutting costs within the next three years. It has forecast "strong" earnings growth for the financial year ending June because of higher oil and chemicals prices and favourable foreign currency movements, reports BDLive.

Sasol employs more than 35 000 people in 37 countries.

"Due to the progress made in designing the new operating model, we are contemplating potential people impacts as a result of this programme," said Sasol spokesman Alex Anderson. "We anticipate that for at least the next six months, the impacts will be limited to the senior management structures in the organisation."

Commenting on the potential 1 000 job losses, Croucamp said, "Our concern is with job cuts, extended families are affected and there’s no alternative for them to go to in the job market."

According to BDLive, on 1 November, Sasol’s board approved an executive committee to "align the group’s top management with our new operating platform, effective 1 July 2014," Anderson said. "Because it’s unfolding, we don’t know what the final structure is going to look like," he said.