Singapore Airlines had more than 500 cabin crew and 50 pilots it did not need. That was the arithmetic in February, after the group, which includes SilkAir and Scoot, suspended 9.9 per cent of its scheduled flights until the end of May.
The airline froze hiring for all ground positions. Management took pay cuts of 5 to 15 per cent, and the company said it would watch the situation and might ask staff to go on no-pay leave.
It did not stop there. On 23 March, SIA announced it would cut 96 per cent of its flight capacity. SIA and SilkAir would ground 138 of their 147 planes, and Scoot 47 of its 49. A memo from chief executive Goh Choon Phong then told staff the company had agreed further measures with its unions: no-pay leave for everyone up to divisional vice-presidents, some compulsory no-pay days each month for pilots, executives and associates, and leave of absence for staff on re-employment contracts. About 10,000 employees were affected. Goh doubled his own pay cut from 15 to 30 per cent from 1 April, and board members raised their fee cut to the same level.
Others follow the airline
SATS, the ground handler and in-flight caterer, was hit by the same drop in air travel. A leaked email on 26 February announced a 10 per cent pay cut for vice-presidents and above, citing the “sharp reductions in passengers and flights across Asia”. Other staff were offered voluntary unpaid leave, and those aged 55 and above could take early retirement. By 9 March the cuts had deepened. Chief executive Alex Hungate and non-executive directors took 15 per cent.
Singtel entered a salary freeze on 9 March for all roles except operational and support staff. Profits had already fallen 23.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2019. Chief executive Chua Sock Koong said the challenges would be “further aggravated by weak sentiment and economies made more sluggish by the virus threat”.
SP Group’s directors accepted a 5 per cent fee cut on 6 March. ComfortDelGro said on 6 April that its directors would cut their fees by 20 per cent until the end of 2020, group chief executive Yang Ban Seng would take 15 per cent off his pay, and vice-presidents and above 10 per cent.
When freezes turn into layoffs
Freezes were not always enough. Banyan Tree cut about 30 per cent of its Singapore staff, a downsizing that touched about 10 per cent of its 11,000 employees worldwide. Deliveroo trimmed a quarter of its Singapore staff, according to the Business Times. Grab put senior leaders on a 20 per cent pay cut and encouraged voluntary no-pay leave, saying transport rides were falling by double-digit percentages.
BreadTalk announced measures on 23 March affecting about 137 staff in ASEAN countries and 1,840 in China and Hong Kong. Senior executives in ASEAN would take pay cuts of 30 to 50 per cent from March to June, which the company expected to save about $177,000 a month.
Sources
Sources
- COVID-19: Singapore Firms Impose Pay Cuts, Hiring & Salary Freezes
- Singapore Businesses Restart COVID Plans Amid Rising Cases
