SINGAPORE: ComfortDelGro Group on Monday (Apr 6) announced that its board of directors and senior management would be taking voluntary fee and pay reductions amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Directors of the group’s three listed companies – ComfortDelGro, SBS Transit and VICOM – will take a voluntary 20 per cent cut in directors’ fees until the end of the year.
Group CEO and managing director Yang Ban Seng will take a 15 per cent pay cut, while all senior management staff members ranked vice-president and above will see a 10 per cent salary reduction.
The cuts will be effective from April and will be reviewed at the end of June, said the group in a media release.
READ: Solidarity Budget: Singapore spends another S$5.1b to save jobs, protect livelihoods amid impending circuit breaker rules
Group chairman Lim Jit Poh said the move was a necessary one amid ongoing challenges.
“These are extraordinarily difficult times. Our taxi drivers, who are our key partners, are already reeling from the dramatic fall in demand – not just in Singapore but in all the locations we operate in,” he said.
One of the group’s key priorities is to preserve jobs, said Mr Yang.
“My senior management and I are doing whatever we can to ensure that we ride through this storm together as a group,” he added. “We are not alone in this and we are thankful for strong governmental support in these challenging times.”
READ: ComfortDelGro waives taxi rental for one month to soften pain from COVID-19 work, school closures
On Saturday, ComfortDelGro announced it would waive taxi rental for one month to help their cabbies, after the Government announced that all non-essential workplaces and schools would be closed to stem the spread of COVID-19.
A previously announced rental relief package will kick back in after the full rental waiver expires on May 5.
Together, the total relief package for ComfortDelGro cabbies is expected to cost up to S$99 million.
The wage and fee reductions come after the National Wages Council suggested last month that struggling companies considering wage cuts should have their management teams lead by example.
Singapore has confirmed a total of 1,309 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday. Six people have died from the disease in the country.
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