MultiChoice South Africa on Friday announced a business "realignment" that affects nearly 2,200 jobs in its call centres and walk-in centres, saying customers prefer engaging "digitally" with the company.
"This has not been an easy decision to make but ... if we don’t reposition now, we run the risk of being completely misaligned and we put everyone’s jobs at risk," MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela said in a statement.
The company has entered into a "consultation process with 2,194 of its employees within customer care (call centres) and the walk-in centres as part of the strategic realignment of its customer service delivery model".
MultiChoice says it has seen a steady decline in the number of phone calls and e-mails to the call centres and customer service centres over the past three years. This as self-service digital channels continued to grow to make up 70% of all customer service contacts.
"However, in this transition, the company will make new roles available for multi-skilled employees with the expertise, skills and technological prowess to enhance the customer experience ...
"As part of a comprehensive support programme agreed with unions and other employee representative forums, the company will be offering voluntary severance packages, wellness support and financial planning, and will continue paying for current studies for MultiChoice bursary funded employees and relevant skills development among a range of benefits for impacted employees."
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