HONG Kong Airlines has laid off 700 employees to stay afloat, while its management will suffer a larger pay cut in the next six months, reports The Standard, HK.
This is the company's third redundancy exercise over the course of the pandemic, after it sacked 650 employees last February and December, and launched four rounds of no-pay leave since the outbreak began more than 16 months ago.
The airline confirmed that it had axed around 700 Hong Kong-based and overseas employees yesterday, totalling around a quarter of the company's 2,690 employees.
Affected employees will be compensated according to their conditions of service and in compliance with local labour laws, an airline spokesman said.
'Hong Kong Airlines is in critical survival mode. To secure our future, it is imperative for us to transform into a leaner and more efficient organization now to ensure that we can continue to operate sustainably in the challenging years ahead,' the spokesman said.
'We also applied for various government subsidies, but they could only offer a small relief to our business.'
Additionally, salaries for the company's senior management will be further reduced starting from this month until the end of the year, going from the current 15 per cent cut to a cut as high as 36 per cent, depending on job grade, according to the airline.
Deputy general managers and above will also continue taking no-pay leave, with a higher pay reduction from the current scheme.
'Hong Kong Airlines is still reeling from the cumulative impact of the social unrest and the ongoing pandemic. In the past two years, we have made valiant efforts to mitigate the impact from these crises,' the spokesman added.
Earlier this month, the airline announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Aviation Ground Service, which provides ground services for the airline at the Hong Kong International Airport, will cease operations next month, rendering another 240 of its employees jobless.
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This is the company's third redundancy exercise over the course of the pandemic, after it sacked 650 employees last February and December, and launched four rounds of no-pay leave since the outbreak began more than 16 months ago.
The airline confirmed that it had axed around 700 Hong Kong-based and overseas employees yesterday, totalling around a quarter of the company's 2,690 employees.
Affected employees will be compensated according to their conditions of service and in compliance with local labour laws, an airline spokesman said.
'Hong Kong Airlines is in critical survival mode. To secure our future, it is imperative for us to transform into a leaner and more efficient organization now to ensure that we can continue to operate sustainably in the challenging years ahead,' the spokesman said.
'We also applied for various government subsidies, but they could only offer a small relief to our business.'
Additionally, salaries for the company's senior management will be further reduced starting from this month until the end of the year, going from the current 15 per cent cut to a cut as high as 36 per cent, depending on job grade, according to the airline.
Deputy general managers and above will also continue taking no-pay leave, with a higher pay reduction from the current scheme.
'Hong Kong Airlines is still reeling from the cumulative impact of the social unrest and the ongoing pandemic. In the past two years, we have made valiant efforts to mitigate the impact from these crises,' the spokesman added.
Earlier this month, the airline announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Hong Kong Aviation Ground Service, which provides ground services for the airline at the Hong Kong International Airport, will cease operations next month, rendering another 240 of its employees jobless.
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