The Aboitiz Group and budget carrier Cebu Pacific announced on Wednesday separate plans to trim their workforce amid the serious challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aboitiz Equity Ventures said in a statement several team members would end their service to the group by July 31. It said the affected employees would receive a substantial separation package to support them through the transition.
“This was not an easy decision for the Aboitiz Group to make but one that had to be done as it has not been spared by the health and economic crisis,” the company said in a statement.
“It is still not clear on how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last but we share everybody’s hope that a vaccine will be developed soon,” it said.
Aboitiz Group assured its operations and maintenance of various Aboitiz facilities remained normal and were sufficiently manned and would not be affected by the workforce rationalization process.
“The Aboitiz Group is confident the Philippines can weather this crisis and the country will continue with its economic growth,” it said. It did not provide the exact number of employees who would be affected.
Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific said it was looking at reducing more staff in the coming days. “The right sizing of Cebu Pacific will be necessary to fulfill our commitment to provide affordable and accessible air transport services to every Juan in the years to come,” Charo Logarta, spokesperson of Cebu Pacific, said in a statement.
“The details are still being finalized and Cebu Pacific commits that any decisions and actions that will be taken will be done with utmost transparency, sensitivity and responsibility to our employees, partners and other stakeholders,” she said.
The budget airline earlier laid off 150 newly-hired cabin crew. As of 2019, Cebu Pacific had 4,352 permanent full time employees, including 3,499 in operations, 350 in commercial and 553 in support departments.
Logarta said Cebu Pacific was undergoing a transformation process to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business, given the expected changes in travel demand and consumer behavior.
“We expect travel recovery to happen over a longer period, with COVID-19 negatively impacting the aviation industry,” Cebu Pacific said.
The airline reported a net loss of P1.18 billion in the first quarter, a reversal from the P3.35-billion net income in the same period last year. Revenue tumbled 25 percent in the first quarter to P15.91 billon from P21.77 billion a year ago following the cancellation of regional flights. With Darwin G. Amojelar