Softlogic cuts pay, stops hiring; urges staff to take up extra roles to cope with COVID-19

Diversified blue chip Softlogic Holdings Plc has announced its own set of cost-cutting measures including pay cuts, suspending hikes and bonuses to manage the impact from the global and local

Chairman Ashok Pathirage

spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The measures follow Softlogic Chairman Ashok Pathirage telling staff that the unprecedented lockdown in the country with curfew being imposed from 17 March and which continues unabated to date has eroded the Group’s performance, with most companies being closed for business.

Nonetheless, he said staff wellbeing and good health were of primary importance and overrode any other secondary measures the group was implementing to ensure continuance of strong operations in the economy which is globally battered by the new coronavirus.

Aimed at three months, salary cuts range from 5% to 30% for anyone earning over Rs. 50,000. There will be no overtime payments as well but when called upon to do so an employee would need to volunteer and work the extra hours should the job require such commitment.

Softlogic will also freeze all new recruitments, including head count replacements. “All staff must come forward and volunteer to take on an extra function at this point in time,” Chairman Pathirage has requested the team at Softlogic.

The company has also frozen all expenses pertaining to training and development and employee welfare unless otherwise deemed as a critical expense whilst all new plans and capital expenditure will be held in abeyance.

Pathirage said these unprecedented times were not endemic to Softlogic alone but to all other corporate entities, small and large, operating in the economy.

Noting that whilst other companies had been faster to take measures to cut staff emoluments, Pathirage said Softlogic after careful consideration and giving much thought to all grades of staff, decided to implement cost-saving measures to ensure that job losses were minimised.

This is whilst taking the opportunity to look inwardly and reduce wasteful expenses, centralise functions to avoid duplication of work, eliminate unviable business practices and adopt the right strategy – so that management may accordingly stay on top of the learning curve – and face challenges of today’s harsh economic realities.

“At this moment, we will do our best to control what is within our ambit with foresight although there is little we can do to mitigate factors beyond the control of human intervention,” Pathirage said.

He said that the Government, the Central Bank and health authorities were exploring ways to solve such intractable economic and health issues, but as a Group that was responsible for lives and wellbeing of over 10,000 staff and their families, the company expected staff at this critical time to understand the business rationale for undertaking cutbacks affecting staff emoluments, incentives and allowances in order to save expenditure during a time sustainable revenue growth was undermined for reasons beyond ordinary control.

The Softlogic Chairman appealed to the staff to give their best, double up on their performance objectives and commit themselves with utmost diligence and good faith and thus cooperate with management to implement these positive decisions until Group performance goals are successfully reached.

“Should our internal processes be harnessed with your focused commitment during these times, the Group will certainly endure these temporary setbacks and become stronger like it has always done in the past,” the Softlogic Chairman added.