Etisalat, operator of PTCL, the largest telecommunications and CDMA service provider in Pakistan, has started the process of short-listing PTCL employees for deputation and secondment to other Etisalat overseas operations.
Currently, three teams from the head office of Etisalat are in Pakistan conducting interviews of more than 1.000 employees. Originally, 5500 applications were filed by PTCL employees for deputation to other Etisalat operations in different parts of Middle East and Africa. Out of the approximately 1,000 short-listed candidates and 400 to 500 of these would be selected for postings abroad. The first batch will be seconded to Etisalat operations in UAE shortly.
"This process is a step forward towards Etisalat's vision of making PTCL part of the Etisalat family," President, PTCL, Walid Irshaid said, and added that subsequent batches of individuals for deputation would be sent to 14 other countries where Etisalat currently operates.
The pay scales of the PTCL employees, to be sent on deputation, would be considerably higher. Additionally, the employees who would be serving in other operations of Etisalat would continue to enjoy perks like house rent for their families back home. Similarly, medical coverage and pension funds shall be endorsed by Etisalat to PTCL. Etisalat will pay 15 percent of the total new package to PTCL in order to cover these costs.
This would be the first time that such a large number of experienced Pakistani technical staff would be sent to the operations outside Pakistan by a major foreign investor.
Etisalat has expanded its operations in the Middle East and Africa with a vision to become one of the top ten telecom service providers in the global market by the year 2010. Its current operations are in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Niger, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Central African Republican.-PR