Pay cuts, little time and work from home during lockdown level 1

On September 16, 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced South Africa will move to Lockdown Alert Level 1 starting at midnight on Sunday, September 20, 2020.

He said that the South African economy and our society have suffered great devastation, and that the move to Level 1 will return the economy to a situation that is more normal.

In his previous speeches, Ramaphosa encouraged people to stay home if they can and, if possible, to work from home.

On this occasion, the president did not mention working from home, which gives an indication that it is no longer a top priority.

Most large technology and telecommunications companies have previously asked their employees to work from home.

In many cases, the lockdown and the economic slowdown also forced companies to cut wages and reduce staff working time.

To find out if the move to lockdown level 1 changed the way businesses operate, MyBroadband asked for comments from the country’s main ICT players.

It turned out that most of the employees continue to work from home and that pay cuts and short time are not common.

However, there are some companies that are now giving their staff the option of going to the office if they prefer.

There are also some companies that are preparing for rotational office work to start the return process.

Working from home

Below is a summary of feedback from leading South African IT and telecom companies on working from home and moving to level 1 lockdown.

• Adapt it – The company anticipates that most employees will continue to work practically from home until the end of the year. They have experienced high levels of productivity and higher levels of staff engagement during the shutdown, and have decided to formalize virtual work by implementing a work from home policy.
• Altron – The company is developing a remote work policy that will be a hybrid model that accounts for those who work from home permanently and those who work from the office. The policy will provide flexibility and agility with hotdesking allowed for those who wish to come to the office only at specific times.
• Alviva – They encourage staff to work from home whenever possible and employees will continue to work from home for now.
• Catalytic (Telemasters) – They are back in the office because they believe that being in the office creates a different environment and energy that remote work cannot compete with.
• Cell C – Cell C employees who have been working effectively remotely will continue to do so while the company finalizes its remote work model.
• Dimension data – Employees are working on an occasional or rotating basis where they spend some time at home and in the office. They will continue to manage occupancy levels in accordance with current regulations for as long as necessary. For the new normal “future of work”, they believe that a hybrid model is possibly the most viable option in the long term. However, not all employees could fit into this. There are possibly two categories of workers: distributed and appointed.
• EOH – The company is evaluating the impact of lockdown level 1 on its business. Working from home remains the preferred option for your employees wherever possible.
• Liquid Telecom – They have allowed their employees to continue working from home. However, provisions have been made for 50% of essential staff to return to the office if desired.
• MTN – The mobile operator encourages its staff to continue working from home. MTN’s philosophy is that after COVID-19, those who can work from home and are happy to work from home will be encouraged to work remotely.
• Rain – People work from home, but the company’s office buildings are open for ad hoc team meetings, some critical services, and to accommodate staff struggling with connectivity in their homes. They plan to continue for the rest of the year in this way. They believe that in the future people will no longer have all staff members coming to the office every day.
• Vodacom – At level 1, Vodacom has offered staff the option to return to work effectively from 1 October. However, only 25% occupancy will be accommodated per building in all its offices. You will continue to build on the success of your work from home program, which means that for many employees working from home has become the “new normal”.
• Vox – The company encourages as many staff members as possible to work remotely if they can. Vox said most staff prefer to work from home and feel more productive since they don’t need to sit in traffic. On the other hand, this has also highlighted the “dead” or those who do not act.
• Vumatel – Company staff continue to work from home and believe it is the best way forward for the company and its teams to continue like this for the foreseeable future. Vumatel has decided to make remote work part of their way of working, and this is how they will operate in the future.

Work from home, pay cuts and little time

The table below provides an overview of work from home, pay cuts and short time at the largest tech companies in South Africa.

Read Now: South Africa’s Top Tech Companies – Pay Cuts, Layoffs, and Work-from-Home Policies