Letters | Cathay lay-offs inhumane to staff who lifted Hong Kong carrier
I am writing to express my opinion on Cathay Pacific’s recent lay-offs. The Covid-19 virus emerged earlier this year, and the pandemic it sparked is still raging. People’s lives, businesses, supply chains and entire national economies have been upended. The aviation industry, in particular, has been hit hard. Global travel was as good as halted for months and only began sputtering back to life in recent months, but even then it is a pale shadow of its former self.
Lovette Lam, Tseung Kwan O
Jobs cuts difficult but were for the greater good
Some may argue that it is inconsiderate to suddenly fire so many employees at the same time since they had a steady job and most of them, such as pilots, do not have any other working experience. It will be very hard for them to find another job to make ends meet. However, drastic measures were necessary, as the company was losing billions of dollars each month.
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Cathay Pacific warns of historic HK$9.9 billion loss due to coronavirus pandemic
Most importantly, with this downsizing, the company can turn its focus to developing Cathay Pacific and HK Express as both airlines have suffered great losses during the pandemic-related travel shutdown. It has to think of a series of policies to revive the company and rekindle staff morale, and it does not have enough capital and resources for all the brands.
It would be more difficult to revitalise the company if it needed to deal with all those losses in the long term. Therefore, closing down one of the brands means the company can allocate the resources better, instead of haemorrhaging money. The survival of the other two brands also means there is an opportunity for future employment.
I believe the job cuts were a necessary decision, regardless of the sorrow that has been caused.
Ma Ting Ting, Sha Tin