Tusker Mattresses Limited, a major retailer in Kenya, has fired a part of its employees in various departments.
Through a letter addressed to its employees, the firm stated that it was restructuring and needed to lay off some of its staff due to a tough business environment that has seen its sales drop in the last two years.
“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,” read a statement seen by Kenyans.co.ke.
The firm further indicated that the affected staff would receive a one month's salary and pay for any untaken leave days.
The family-owned supermarket has 65 branches across the country and in Uganda.
In addition, it has a staff base of over 6000 employees.
The firm follows a long list of companies that have laid off its workers due to hard economic times including Mediamax, Mumias Sugar, Radio Africa among others.
Just recently, on Wednesday, January 29, Digital media house Hivisasa.com closed down its news production unit after six years of operations, consequently sending its writers home.
The media house, which had a steady audience of two million monthly readers, cited failure to identify a viable advertisement-led business model, as the reason for the unprecedented closure.
"We have made the hard decision to close down the current model of local news production, in order to explore new ideas and opportunities. A special thank you to our brilliant and dedicated team, and to our loyal readers," read a part of a press statement authored by the founder.
Yet again, on Thursday, February 13, Brookside Limited announced the closure of its main branch in the Coast region located at Taita Taveta County.
The company indicated that the closure was occasioned by the hard economic times affecting the country.
In addition, the reduction in profits realised by the company was also tagged as a key reason to close down the branch, dimming the hopes of many farmers who were relying on the dairy farming business.
