Seven lose jobs at BTC and more could follow

A total of four workers have been made redundant in the last week, with another three leaving after negotiating a voluntary separation.

A spokeswoman for BTC said the job losses were the latest in a series of cuts designed to reflect a fall in the firm’s traditional landline phone business.

The spokeswoman added: “This announcement corresponded to a major shift in the strategic direction of the company resulting in redundancies in positions associated with voice and related services and a commitment to growth in data related technologies and services.”

The firm announced in March last year that a total of 45 jobs would go over the following 12 months.

The move followed the development of a “road map” for the company highlighting the changing business environment, which was presented to employees.

A total of 25 people were made redundant in March 2010, with a further 20 to follow by the end of the financial year on March 31.

The seven to go this week signals the end of the current round of redundancies.

The spokeswoman said: “The company initially asked staff to consider voluntary separation.

“A number of persons came forward and together with management, leaving dates were arranged.”

And the spokeswoman did not rule out more jobs gloom in the future.

But she said: “Protocol dictates that future redundancies within the group be communicated to our staff and union partners prior to communication with the general public.”

Martin Law, chief executive of the Bermuda Employers’ Council, said: “The company has made earlier redundancies and they were looking at the totality of their business.

“But there is an aspect of this which is not recession-driven, but created by changes in the business environment.

“It’s always unfortunate when people lose their jobs, but changes in the business environment are something companies can’t really do anything about.”

BTC is part of the KeyTech Group of companies, which also includes Logic Communications and M3 Wireless.

The Bermuda Yellow Pages, Cable Co, Key Management Services and Logic Cayman are also part of KeyTech, which employs around 300 people, mostly in Bermuda.

The job losses at BTC follow the announcement last week that Bank of Butterfield was to shed 25 employees.

Management at the bank said the job losses we due to restructuring caused by a decline in business in some areas.

Posts made redundant included some in bank operations, marketing and communications and consumer credit.

Among those to go from the bank were around nine security guards and a vice-president.