MTRC sacks 80 staff as passenger numbers fall
Eighty MTR workers have been sacked as the company slashes costs in the face of sliding revenue and passenger numbers.
Laid-off staff comprise 30 managers from different departments and 50 station staff on the Airport Express.
About 100 senior staff members' salaries will be frozen and their housing allowances cut by five per cent from next month as part of a package of cost-cutting measures announced yesterday.
MTRC officials expect to save $600 million this year from the measures and from possible cuts to benefits and allowances in the near future.
May Wong, an MTRC spokeswoman, hinted strongly that more managers might lose their jobs.
'In the foreseeable future, we don't see any more lay-offs in general staff, but we'll continue to streamline professionals and managerial staff,' Ms Wong said.
Nine hundred of the company's 8,620 workers are professionals such as engineers, architects and managers.
Ms Wong said the company had ruled out a pay cut this year. However, benefits such as the year-end bonus and allowances could be reduced as the company found other ways to save money.
Company officials said that the measures were necessary as passenger revenue was 20 per cent below expectations.
Low passenger numbers on the Airport Express, which opened in July, were the main reason, Ms Wong said.
'We forecast 36,000 passengers per day, but we're now averaging 23,000 to 25,000 per day. Competition from buses is quite intense,' she said, adding that a decline in tourists had also hit revenue.
But the Airport Express was not the only factor. Passenger numbers on other lines had begun to drop in 1997 due to construction of the Western Harbour Crossing and increased competition from buses.
In the first half of last year, fare revenue fell by seven per cent from the previous year and passenger levels on other lines dropped by 3.5 per cent.
The fare freeze imposed last year contributed to the revenue decline as did the economic downturn, which led to people taking buses to save money.
'We don't see any improvement in the near future,' Ms Wong said. The company will soon review fares for this year.
Chan Sin-wo, president of the 500-strong MTR Staff Union, said the lay-offs were unnecessary.
'A 3.5 per cent drop in passengers is not that serious. We're not satisfied with the company's decision today. They did not consult the union. All along, they said they were merely restructuring. We didn't know about the lay-offs until today,' he said.
Sacked managers learned about the lay-offs last week and will be allowed to work through the next couple of months until their contracts end.
The station staff, almost all of whom have less than one year's service with the company, were sacked yesterday and will receive a minimum of three months' salary as compensation, two months more than the law requires.
