PCCW has announced its second restructuring move this week, firing 529 staff and concluding a massive lay-off programme that cost almost 1,900 jobs over the past 12 months. Yesterday's announcement marked the third large-scale lay-off since last December and means Richard Li Tzar-kai's company has shed almost 25 per cent of its workforce since his takeover of the former telecom monopoly in August 2000. PCCW said it had now completed its realignment exercise. As with the previous restructuring moves, Mr Li, 36, was not available for comment. The decision, which represented a 4.4 per cent cut in worker numbers, came just a day after the dominant telecom company announced a plan to reduce pay to its newly created 3,000-staff subsidiary - Cascade - by more than 10 per cent. Although it was widely expected that PCCW would announce further restructuring, yesterday's move came as a surprise to many and about 20 affected staff protested outside the company's headquarters in Quarry Bay. 'We are shocked,' said PCCW staff association chairman Terry Ip Ngok-fung. 'Just yesterday they founded a new company and promised a good future, but today they slashed 500-plus staff.' Stephen Ip Shu-kwan, secretary for Economic Development and Labour, said it was a commercial move and government intervention would be inappropriate. 'We should definitely not interfere,' he said. 'PCCW watch for costs and competition. We hope that they would also consider the employees' situation.' Chief operating officer Mike Butcher said the management made all decisions in the context of balancing the needs of PCCW's major stakeholders: the customers, shareholders and staff. 'We regret that these redundancies have become necessary, but the future long-term wellbeing of the vast majority of our people has in part necessitated this decision,' he said. 'This week's announcements complete our major realignment exercises.' Graphic: PCCW21GET
