By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Telecommunications Company’s (BTC) chief executive yesterday said it has put a “compelling” voluntary separation offer on the table for staff wishing to exit the company.

Garfield “Garry” Sinclair, its chief executive, speaking on the sidelines of an education conclave, said that once the voluntary separation exercise “is behind us” the carrier will be poised for “real rapid growth”.

“A lot of colleagues are on leave this time of year,” he said. “Colleagues are getting up to speed now on what the requirements are, what their options are and, right now, the number of people who have already applied is what it is. I’m not going to reveal that, but I would say that we consulted widely before we introduced the packages.

“We believe what we have on the table with our packages, colleagues will find compelling if they are minded to move on to some other phase of their lives.”

Mr Sinclair stressed that the VSEP exercise is “completely voluntary”. “It’s for colleagues to accept or reject,” he added. “We’re going through the consultation process now. We’ve provided counselling, obviously, on building work skills; getting people to understand what life could be like outside of BTC.

“There is much more to come. We are taking every precaution. We are being as sensitive as we possibly can in executing this plan. We believe that at the end of the day, once this is behind us, it will set BTC up for some real rapid growth.”

Mr Sinclair said staff will be given as much time as they need to make an informed decision, but added: “We hope to have it wrapped up end of this month or early September.”

He declined to predict how many BTC workers will exit, but added: “For planning purposes you have to have some number in order to effectively plan so that once the dust settles and the smoke clears we are going to be ready to drive our business forward.” BTC currently has 520 full-time staff and around 180 contractors.

Dino Rolle, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union (BCPOU), told Tribune Business yesterday: “While the union would love to see improvement in the VSEP we do understand and stress to our members that the exercise is a voluntary one, and the decision is for them to decide whether to apply for separation or continue in the company’s employ.”

Ricardo Thompson, the Bahamas Communications and Public Managers Union (BCPMU), could not be reached for comment.