In a retrenchment process that is hailed as part of the development and functional review exercise following changes in the telecommunications industry, TNM plc retrenched 137 of its employees.

“In a more data-driven future, TNM will work like an internet company. This requires fewer staff as well as staff with a different skills profile, hence, TNM is adapting to these changes in the market environment and circumstances,” said TNM’s head of marketing Sobhuza Ngwenya.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovation  has noted that employees have been demanding a living wage, but the has warned that such demands are a call for retrenchment. A living wage is a minimum income for an employee to meet their basic needs, aimed at meeting the cost of living, which has been a burden in Malawi.

Commissioner of labour Hlale Nyangulu told The Nation newspaper that if government makes an upward review of the minimum wage, the employers may be unable to sustain that wage, therefore to keep up with the raised wage, retrenchment is the resolve.