BAT M’sia To Cut 20% Of Workforce

Source from:  The Edge Markets MY 11/05/2019

British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT Malaysia), the country’s largest tobacco company, is undergoing another round of internal reorganisation, with 20% of its workforce in Malaysia to be laid off. The company employs about 500 people in Malaysia.

This comes on the heels of its smaller rival JT International Bhd’s (JTI Malaysia) announcement recently that it was laying off more than one-third of its 450-strong workforce here.

In 2017, both BAT Malaysia and JTI Malaysia had closed down their manufacturing plants here, which had affected about 500 workers.

“Yes, there will be a total of 20% of the company’s headcount impacted as part of the internal reorganisation,” BAT Malaysia managing director Erik Stoel told The Edge Financial Daily via email.

He said the internal reorganisation exercise is necessary given the challenging external market forces, mainly driven by stubbornly high levels of illegal cigarette incidences at 65%, a sales and service tax (SST)-led pricing increase and a rapid increase on illegal vaping products.

“With the reorganisation, the company will be able to optimise its way of working. This will ensure that the company is better placed to meet ever-evolving consumer needs and deliver savings that can be reinvested into accelerating growth into the new categories.

“While we do not like having to rationalise investments and optimise expenses, but given the current reality it is necessary in ensuring the future sustainability of our business and in establishing a strong financial position that will create a solid platform to drive growth and deliver value to our shareholders,” he added.  Enditems