In Brief

TVB confirms some staff will lose their jobs

TVB yesterday confirmed it would cut staff. Without revealing the number of employees to be laid off, spokesman Tsang Sing-ming said various departments would be affected, with production resources department mostly affected. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said companies should find ways to increase revenue and cut other costs first and consider dismissing staff as a last resort.

Standard Chartered sackings

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) confirmed that some staff had been sacked recently because their jobs had been outsourced to a call centre and there were no suitable jobs to which they could be redeployed. The bank denied it had any plans for mass redundancies. A spokeswoman declined to say exactly how many workers had been fired. She said the bank had been moving its call centre to Shenzhen for a number of years.

Mall doctors' business fear

Some doctors are worried they may have to close their clinics in shopping malls managed by The Link Management after business dropped 30 per cent over the past few months, according to medical sector legislator Leung Ka-lau. The Link Management runs shopping malls on public housing estates formerly operated by the Housing Authority. Dr Leung hoped The Link would not seek rent increases.

Estate agent fees waived

The Estate Agents Authority has decided to waive agents' licence fees for six months to ease their burden amid the financial crisis. The plan requires passage of legislation. It is estimated it will cost the authority HK$24.5 million in licensing income. Since 1999, the authority has twice lowered agents' licence fees.