The economic impact of Covid-19 has yet to be precisely determined, but many companies are taking precautionary measures with pay cuts.
Yesterday (26 Feb) afternoon, SMRT sent out a statement to their staff announcing that they would be experiencing pay cuts and a reduction in bonus, reports The Straits Times (ST).
Read on for more details about the pay cuts.
On Monday (24 Feb), Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state investment firm, announced that they would be freezing staff salaries. Senior management would also be required to take a cut in their bonuses.
According to TODAY Online, senior management will be allowed a “voluntary base salary reduction of up to 5 percent”.
This was part of their April compensation exercise, to help cushion the impact of Covid-19 on their business.
SMRT is fully owned by Temasek Holdings, thus the pay cuts and bonus reductions affecting them are similar.
In the announcement sent to their employees, SMRT notified them that there would be salary and bonus reductions for managerial staff in 2020, reports ST.
The announcement read,
In light of the challenging situation arising from the Covid-19 outbreak, SMRT is implementing a salary reduction of up to 5 per cent and a 0.5-month reduction in bonus for its management staff this year.
TODAY Online also reported that SMRT is still planning to continue with recruitment for its upcoming Thomson-East Coast line.
Temasek Holdings’ companies DBS and SATS have implemented measures to financially aid their staff, as well as those affected by Covid-19.
According to TODAY Online, DBS is not implementing wage cuts or salary freezing like SMRT, as the impact of Covid-19 can be “greatly absorbed by allowances (they) have built up over the years”.
DBS told TODAY Online that they’d opted to support individuals, businesses and communities instead, through loan relief schemes and insurance coverage.
SATS, the company that provides in-flight catering and manages ground handling at Changi Airport, imposed pay cuts too.
Their pay cuts were much steeper, coming in at 10% as compared to SMRT’s 5%.
SATS also gave its employees the option of voluntary early retirement from 55 years old, or taking voluntary unpaid leave.
SATS told TODAY Online that they were making efforts to ensure employees would be able to “embrace change and redeployment”, so that the company could come back strong once Covid-19 blows over.
SMRT’s public transport business has not been hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak, but its taxi sector definitely has.
According to ST, fewer drivers want to continue working due to the fall in passengers since the outbreak occurred. The government has had to step in to provide financial aid, too.
We hope that the pay cuts do some good at cushioning the economic impact on Temasek Holdings and their companies.
The outbreak of Covid-19 is likely to carry on for a while more, and we hope that necessary measures will continue to be taken to support workers and individuals through the difficulties.
Featured image adapted from TODAY Online.
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