Namibia’s largest newspaper announced on Tuesday that it is embarking on a restructuring exercise that will see it cutting jobs and reviewing benefits for employees.
Editor of The Namibian, Tangeni Amupadhi, said the exercise would see staff above 55 years old being offered early retirement while others would be accorded the opportunity to go on voluntary retrenchments and those who opt to stay have their benefits reviewed downwards.
He attributed the decision to tightening economic conditions in the country characterised by declining revenue, rising overheads and a recession over the past four years.
“If overdrafts were a drug, we would definitely overdose and kill ourselves,” Amupadhi said.
He revealed that the economic challenges – coupled with the negative impacts of the coronavirus lockdown – have affected the paper’s print run and circulation figures, with the number of copies declining by 17,000 over the past two months. The paper’s print run was previously 70,000 before the lockdown.
JN/APA