Dimension Data is set to retrench 480 employees

Dimension Data will retrench in the region of 480 employees following a major restructuring exercise announced in March that saw it pull the plug on two of its biggest brands, Internet Solutions and Britehouse. The restructuring is aimed at putting the IT services group back on a solid growth footing and removing unnecessary friction and duplication.

“Dimension Data can confirm that it has started the process of consulting with stakeholders and employees with a view to implementing a new operating model aligned with announcements in March this year,” the group said in an e-mailed statement on Friday.

“Impacted staff have already been informed, and through ongoing consultations, where necessary every effort will be made to either redeploy or support them with onward career placement wherever possible. Through a section 189 process, we anticipate that approximately 480 employees may leave the business. We are committed to an open and transparent process and employees will be provided the necessary support,” it said.

As part of the restructuring, four brands — Dimension Data, Internet Solutions, Britehouse and ContinuitySA — will be brought together into a single operating entity, trading under the Dimension Data name.

“The main reason for this change is to provide a single portfolio of services to clients and improve client experience, as well as to streamline operations and ‘future-fit’ the Dimension Data business. As a result, our workforce requirements have changed. We intend to remove role duplication and consolidate platforms, tools and processes into single instances, and flatten our structure. While reducing costs is not the primary objective of the One Dimension Data model, the effects of Covid-19 on the business have made further workforce changes necessary.”

Five-year plan

TechCentral first reported on 10 March that the sweeping restructuring, which would include a management shake-up and the removal of inefficient systems and processes, would result in job losses.

“Will there be efficiencies and people impacted? Absolutely,” CEO Grant Bodley said at the time. “But this is a growth strategy. I talk about going ‘zombie-hunting’. What are the processes, systems and tools that are not value-adding to our business? If there is excess capacity, there will unfortunately be consequences of that.”

The group employs 8 000 people in South Africa and 12 000 across the Middle East and Africa.

The changes form part of Bodley’s five-year strategy for the Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT)-owned group and are part of a plan to become “the most preferred ICT organisation on the African continent”.  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media