Telecommunications company Digicel has offered its staff voluntary severance packages as it seeks to reduce its number of local employees by 10 percent and expatriate staff by 20 percent.

Employees will have two weeks to decide on whether to take the packages under the Voluntary Separation Programme. Only if this process does not achieve the necessary staff reductions will redundancies have to be made in 23 of the company’s markets across the Caribbean region.

Digicel Bermuda chief executive officer Wayne Caines said today that he expected the necessary cuts to be made by natural attrition in Bermuda, thanks partly to some staff leaving this month to go back to college. The company employs around 50 people on the Island.

“Digicel Bermuda will not be laying off anyone,” Mr. Caines said yesterday. He added that the company would seek efficiencies in other areas, such as a reduction in energy use and through restructuring, as it dealt with the consequences of the global economic downturn.

Digicel Bermuda employees were told the news at a staff meeting at 8.45 a.m. today.

Both full-time and part-time staff will be eligible for the packages, which are based on years of service, and offer perks including extended health cover, pro rata bonuses and accelerated payments for stock options.

Digicel, the biggest telecommunications company in the Caribbean region, will make the cuts across 23 markets in the Caribbean and Central America as it seeks to streamline its operations to cope with the tough economic times.

* Full story in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.