News: Several companies announce unpaid leave, layoffs-02-04-2020
Upodated On: Apr 2, 2020
BENGALURU: Furloughs, leave without pay, salary cuts, layoffs – that’s the story across sectors as the pandemic deepens the economic crisis. Employees of US conglomerate Honeywell, which has a large engineering centre and operations in India, have to take two weeks of unpaid leave in April and May. Employees will have to submit a formal consent before they participate in the programme, sources told TOI. A Honeywell spokesperson said the company is taking proactive steps to preserve jobs, including shortening or staggering work schedules to match production volumes with demand. “In addition, we will reduce base pay, bonuses, and multiyear incentive plans for Honeywell executives, including our senior staff, CEO and board of directors. We do not take these actions lightly because we know they will impact our valued employees, but we are acting to keep rather than eliminate jobs,” the company said.
Co-working space provider 91springboard has told its 300 employees, including top management, to go on leave without pay for April, though some believe it’s a precursor to layoffs. CEO Anand Vemuri said no employee has been laid off. “In fact, all our decisions have been made to protect the jobs of our employees and services we offer our members so that we are well-prepared when we reopen all the hubs,” he said. The company has shut down its over two-dozen hubs as per the government mandate, except to ensure services can continue.
