During the dotcom burst and the economic recession in the early 2000s, I have to cut down expenses by 10%.
Instead of retrenching 10% of the staff, I cut everybody's salary by 10%, from the CEO down. i gave the staff one month of paid leave every three years.
I cannot remember if the salary cut was 5% or 10%, but my approach was to share the pain equally. I did not wish to have to retrench some of the staff, because they have families to feed.
When the economy recovered, the salary cut was restored. And the one month of paid leave was removed.
Fortunately, during a recession, the cost of living went down. So, the staff was able to cope with the the salary cut.
Some staff were able to find other jobs on their own at better pay. So, they were not worse off. But the majority stayed on and rode through the tough times.
I hope that big companies can consider this method of cutting cost, instead of resorting to retrenchment. Perhaps SPH could have adopted this approach?
Instead of retrenching 10% of the staff, I cut everybody's salary by 10%, from the CEO down. i gave the staff one month of paid leave every three years.
I cannot remember if the salary cut was 5% or 10%, but my approach was to share the pain equally. I did not wish to have to retrench some of the staff, because they have families to feed.
When the economy recovered, the salary cut was restored. And the one month of paid leave was removed.
Fortunately, during a recession, the cost of living went down. So, the staff was able to cope with the the salary cut.
Some staff were able to find other jobs on their own at better pay. So, they were not worse off. But the majority stayed on and rode through the tough times.
I hope that big companies can consider this method of cutting cost, instead of resorting to retrenchment. Perhaps SPH could have adopted this approach?
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