Three considerations that highlight the positives that can emerge which Caribbean telecoms firms cut staff.
Over the past several months, as telecoms firms across the Caribbean restructure their operations, there have been major objections to the downsizing of staff numbers that has also been occurring. In some instances, and to try to make it more palatable, firms have been making the cuts through Voluntary Employee Separation programmes; but regardless of the medium, people are losing jobs.

Although unions and politicians have been in an uproar, these developments in the region’s telecoms landscape are inevitable, as firms can no longer absorb the employee numbers that they used to, and be competitive by today’s standards. In the spirit that every adversity can be considered an opportunity, below are three considerations when reports of job layoffs in the Caribbean telecoms/tech industry make the news.

1. Relevant skills and industry experience are always in demand

In the Caribbean, the telecoms markets – within each countries and across the region as a whole – are still developing. New players are entering; existing players are diversifying and broadening their services; and new value added (or over the top) services are continually coming being launched, to name a few. All of these developments point to the fact that the markets are not stagnant: opportunities are continually emerging.

As a result, there is almost a constant need for individuals who have relevant skills and experience, which typically means not just industry-specific, but also specific to the market under consideration. For most firms new to a market, it is crucial to secure individuals that already possess the requisite experience to reduce their own internal training costs and speed to market. However, and perhaps more importantly, those persons can also possess environment-specific knowledge that can help the firm better strategise and navigate its experience in the market.

2. An outsourced service can be more efficient and effective than that done in-house

For individuals that establish their own businesses and can secure work outsourced by their former employers, the odds are the services they offer are done more efficiently than what their past employers could do in-house. Hence for telecoms firms that downsize their field installation and technical support teams, for example, new independent contracting firms frequently are established that undertake the field installation and technical support work for and on behalf of telecoms network carriers and service providers.

For many of those third party contracting firms, they have considerable latitude in the business model they adopt and the customer base they serve. They also tend to be cost competitive, and consequently a cheaper option for their former employers than an in-house operation, which can be exceedingly attractive when cost containment is an issue.

3. Sometimes it is just necessary to get out of one’s comfort zone

Without a doubt, and when financial obligations are considered, the uncertainty of life without a job can be exceedingly stressful, and threaten the lifestyle to which we (and our families) have become accustomed. However, gone are the days when persons stayed with the same employer over their entire careers.

Over the years there have been claims that people change jobs at least five times over their lifetimes. Regardless of whether the number is accurate, it speaks to a more proactive worker, who is either prepared (or forced by circumstances) to get out of his/her comfort zone and find another work opportunity. The Caribbean is not immune to this phenomenon, and to the extent that it might be inevitable, it may be more prudent to embrace it than bury one’s head in the sand.

 

Image credit:  Natara (FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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