International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Impact of Retrenchment on Employee Productivity at WordPress Namibia Limited

Michael Ochurub PhD¹*, Andrew Jeremiah PhD¹, Mulisa Ignatius Kwizi^2
1Senior Lecturer (HRM) – Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST)
Department of Management, NUST, Namibia
P.O .Box 55155, Rocky Crest, Windhoek, Namibia
²Human Resource Advisor – Rosh Pinah Zinc Corporation (Trevali)
*Corresponding Author

Abstract: The WordPress Namibia Limited retrenched employees in 2020 to save costs and increased the productivity within the organisation. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the impact of retrenchment at WordPress Namibia Limited on employee wellbeing and productivity within the organisation. Retrenchment has become one of the most useful survival strategies implemented by organisations during turbulent business environment. The data was collected through the use of qualitative and quantitate methods with a sample size of forty-four employees. The data collected was analysed and presented using descriptive and deducible statistics to gain applicable answers to the study’s exploration questions. SPSS was also used for analysing the research questions, descriptive statistics in the form of simple probabilities, frequency distributions, weighted pars, and standard divagation was used. The main findings indicate that the retrenchment process has negatively affected employee wellbeing and productivity within the organisation. A vast majority of the respondents agreed that the retrenchment process resulted in reduced worker morale, demotivation, increased job insecurity, increased workload and extended working hours for the remaining employees. The study found that there was no prior consultation or effective communication with the employees before the retrenchment process started. It is recommended that retrenchment process should be well planned, with a proper communication strategy and ongoing consultations with the employees. The remaining employees need support from management to cope with the effects of retrenchment. There are other better options to be considered such as voluntary pay-outs, job merging, deployment etc. instead of forced retrenchment.

Key words: retrenchment, employee wellbeing, productivity, organisational performance

I. INTRODUCTION

Retrenchment could be construed as the voluntary termination of employment contracts by the employer, which is mainly implemented to save the organisational profits and avoid loses (Mthembu, 2019). In 2020, WordPress Namibia Limited has retrenched employees due to the deteriorating economic conditions in Namibia, which led to serious financial loses impacting the profitability of the company. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of retrenchment on employee wellbeing and organisational performance at WordPress Namibia Limited in Windhoek, Namibia as an organisation. Similarly, Ekanem & Umemezia (2019) investigated the socio-economic effects of