IndiGo will from next month cut pay of all its employees by up to 25%, except those at the bottom rungs. The CEO of India’s biggest airline, Ronojoy Dutta, will take a 25% pay cut, senior VPs will take 20%, VPs and pilots 15% and AVPs along with cabin crew 10%, and 5% for a few others. In a mail to employees, Dutta said, “These are very difficult times indeed. I cannot think of another crisis that has engulfed the entire world with its speed and penetration into the lives of every single human being on this planet…. impact on aviation industry has been particularly severe. Governments across the globe have issued travel advisories, which have resulted in a virtual shutdown of all our international flights. Domestic bookings too are down around 20% and it is not clear that the situation will not get worse before it gets better. With the precipitous drop in revenues, the very survival of the airline industry is now at stake. We have to pay careful attention to our cash flow so that we do not run out of cash. Unfortunately, this means that we have to reduce our costs in line with the drop in revenues. With a great deal of reluctance and a deep sense of regret, we are therefore instituting pay cuts for all employees,” Dutta said.
Yes Bank to reopen under a new avatar
Yes Bank, under the new ownership of SBI and other lenders, resumed services on March 19 after a 13-day shutdown following a moratorium imposed by the RBI. The bank will also extend working hours across branches for senior citizens from March 19 to March 27 to minimise crowd amid the coronavirus outbreak. Following the moratorium being lifted, customers could access the full range of banking online services and use ATMs. “Only a third of depositors who could withdraw up to Rs 50,000 during the moratorium, withdrew their money. This gives us confidence,” said Prashant Kumar, the RBI-appointed administrator who is set to take charge as the bank’s CEO. He added that the lender had reached out to some depositors who expressed willingness to put in more deposits given the new ownership of the bank. Kumar added that its ATMs and branches were all loaded with cash.
Ex-SBI chief Bhattacharya is India CEO of Salesforce
Former State Bank of India (SBI) chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya will lead the India operations of Salesforce, one of the world’s leaders in customer relationship management (CRM) software.
The $17-billion US company announced that Bhattacharya, who retired from India’s biggest bank in October 2017, will join on April 20 as chairperson and CEO for India. Bhattacharya served SBI for 40 years, after joining the bank as a probationary officer. In 2016, she was listed as the 25th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. “Arundhati is an incredible business leader and we are delighted to welcome her to Salesforce as chairperson and CEO India,” said Gavin Patterson, president & CEO of Salesforce International. “India is an important growth market for Salesforce and a world-class innovation and talent hub and Arundhati’s leadership will guide our next phase of growth, customer success and investment in the region,” he said.
Tatas promise to pay temps in full for March, April
Amid fears of widespread job losses and pay cuts in the wake of deepening coronavirus pandemic, the Tata Group has said that it will make full payments to temporary workers and daily wage earners working at its offices and manufacturing sites. While the numbers of casual staff working at India’s biggest conglomerate as well as largest private sector employer couldn’t be ascertained, some of its companies like Tata Projects employ huge numbers of temps for construction activities.
Other companies too are doing their bit, responding to the fallout from coronavirus. Bajaj Group scion Rajiv Bajaj said that he will cut his salary to zero before a single employee is laid off. Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma will forego two months salary to “help office staff who may need it” after being inspired by Marriott CEO (the lodging company’s chief said that he will not take any salary for the rest of the year). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to employers to not cut salaries of people during these testing times.
