Triangle Limited, one of Zimbabwe’s largest sugar producers, has announced plans to retrench an undisclosed number of workers, starting in February 2025.
In a recent statement, the company revealed it would implement a three-phase employee retrenchment program.
Triangle cited escalating operational costs, currency losses, and competition from low-cost, duty-free imported sugar as key factors behind this difficult decision.
The retrenchment process will begin in late February 2025 and conclude in August.
Triangle Managing Director, Tendai R. Masawi, explained that several challenging factors had led to the job cuts. Said Masawi:
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The current economic environment in Zimbabwe has presented unprecedented challenges for Triangle Limited over the past three years.
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He highlighted inflationary pressures, rising maintenance costs, and the inability to claim value-added tax (VAT) on inputs after sugar was exempted from VAT, as contributing to the company’s operational difficulties. Said Masawi:
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Escalating operational costs, particularly in areas such as fertilizer, fuel, maintenance costs, and imported goods/services, combined with inflationary pressures, currency losses, the inability to claim VAT on inputs after sugar was exempted from VAT, and competition from low-cost duty-free imported sugar, have severely impacted our ability to sustain current levels of operation.
Since 2022, we have seen profit margins decline significantly by 55%, manpower costs increasing by 133% as a proportion of revenue, and debt levels rising to unsustainable levels.
The company has been unable to generate positive cash flows from its operating activities for the past three years and has faced a very constrained working capital position since the implementation of the revised cane supply arrangements, which has necessitated constant trade-offs between what the business needs and what it can afford.
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Msawi said despite implementing numerous cost-reduction and revenue-enhancement initiatives, the business has failed to stabilise. Said the managing director:
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Despite implementing numerous cost-reduction and revenue-enhancement initiatives, these efforts have proven insufficient to stabilize the business.
This decision has been taken to protect the long-term sustainability of our organization and ensure that Triangle Limited continues to play its vital role in Zimbabwe’s economy and the livelihoods of communities in the Lowveld region.
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Triangle has pledged to provide fair severance packages and support programs for affected employees.
The company clarified that the decision is unrelated to the business rescue process of its South African shareholder or its acquisition by the Vision Consortium.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Triangle Limited, a big sugar company in Zimbabwe, is going to make some workers lose their jobs because it's having money problems. They say the costs of running the company are too high, and they can't compete with cheap sugar from other countries. The boss of Triangle says they tried to cut costs and make more money but it didn't work. They will start laying off workers in February 2025 and finish by August. The company will help the workers who lose their jobs. They say this decision is not because of another company buying them or saving them in South Africa.

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