The Employers' Federation of Hong Kong has added its voice to those appealing to companies to avoid laying off staff if at all possible. But it also said pay rises were very unlikely.
The federation called on its members to manage costs through other means, such as pay cuts, a shorter working week or unpaid leave. They should also keep increases in overheads to a minimum, it said yesterday.
The federation's members employ 500,000 people in Hong Kong. They include Standard Chartered Bank, which announced 200 redundancies on Tuesday, Swire Properties and Jardine Pacific.
'For the sake of Hong Kong as a whole, the federation believes priority should be given to preserving jobs and skills as much as possible, knowing that this will be essential when recovery comes,' chairman John Chan Cho-chak said.
With many companies uncertain about the impact of the financial turmoil on their business, the federation put off issuing its usual guidance on pay rises this year.
Mr Chan said: 'There can be no question of increasing pay - except in very special cases for key people.
'Where job losses are inevitable, we hope companies can achieve this through natural attrition, voluntary separation or early retirement.'
