Nigeria’s biggest and busiest container terminal, APM Terminals Limited has concluded plans to reduce its workforce due to the sharp slide in the nation’s economic fortunes, which is currently taking its toll on activities at the seaports
Head of Human Resources of the company, Ms. Bunmi Pratt, in a statement, said the effects of global price of oil falling from $114 per barrel in the summer of 2014 to less than $50 a barrel in October 2015, have rippled throughout the Nigerian economy, Africa’s largest, and are impacting staffi ng requirements at APM Terminals Apapa’s handling facility.
Pratt said; “With cargo volumes down 30 per cent compared with a year ago, and even after extensive cost-cutting measures taken throughout the terminal, we are unfortunately being forced to reduce our staffi ng in view of the business realities of the current economic environment,” It was also gathered that the company’s employment profi le at Apapa terminals, which began operations after athe port concession programme of the Federal Government in 2006, has risen during the past 10 years from 467 to approximately 1000 in 2015.
According to Pratt, Nigeria, with oil and related petroleum products representing more than 90 per cent of total exports, or approximately $90 billion in 2014, and the lion’s share of government revenue, has seen austerity measures permeate the national and local economy.
This has led to a sharp drop in demand for consumer goods, which has been particularly and acutely felt at APM Terminals Apapa, which handles over half of all Nigerian imports, has left it with the only option of reducing its staff strength in order to cope with the dwindling earnings arising from the low import level.
She also said:“Respect and compassion for all employees are the very foundation of our business model and so the company is working closely with the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria MWUN during this period of the transition”.
