Telecel Zimbabwe staff offered airtime as part of their monthly compensation

Telecel Zimbabwe, a unit of wireless provider VimpelCom, has requested staff to take a wage cut or work a shorter week in an effort to reduce employee costs by 25 per cent and shore up finances.

Workers at the company, operated by VimpelCom’s Cairo-based unit Global Telecom Holdings, can choose between a range of options including a pay reduction of 20 per cent, deferment of 30 per cent of their salary until the end of 2016, or working a four-day week, according to a letter to staff.

Other offers to employees include taking about 20 per cent of their pay in airtime and working shifts to reduce their monthly wage package.

Telecel Zimbabwe had its operating licence cancelled by the country’s regulator in April, only for the ruling to be suspended by the High Court in Harare the following month. The company had been accused of not paying its US$137.5 million licence fee, but has since said it reached an agreement with the regulator to pay the fee in instalments, with one made in June, and another set to be made in December 2015.