SAB promises that a very small number of jobs will be lost in South Africa

The South African Breweries has announced that it is planning to implement retrenchments and it’s reported that could affect 40 jobs.

SAB is the local unit of global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and has embarked on a retrenchment process at its local operations that could affect some 40 jobs. 

A local news website reports that SAB has started a restructuring process and has already started consultations with affected employees.

News24 reports that it also planned, where possible, to absorb affected staff into other areas of its business.

“This review recommended changes to human resource allocations,” reports the website.

“It said the process it had undertaken adhered to both the spirit and letter of labour relations legislation and that it was currently consulting with the affected employees.

“Earlier on Thursday, its parent AB InBev reported SAB had delivered record total-full-year volumes after its beer market share moved ahead of its pre-pandemic levels.”

Explaining the strong performance, AB InBev said a focused commercial investment and consistently executing its strategy for increasing the brand power of its beer and beyond beer, portfolios had helped drive the South African performance.

As also reported by BusinessTech Africa, leading local brand Carling Black Label grew by mid-teens and Brutal Fruit emerged as the top local performer, with these alcohol brands all reporting double-digit revenue growth on a full-year basis.

However, the fourth quarter of 2022 brought some headwinds for its South African operations due to production constraints at its Prospecton brewery, caused by floods in KwaZulu-Natal, which limited its ability to meet demand in the peak season.