BANGKOK — The Nation Multimedia Group, one of Thailand’s largest media conglomerates, announced Tuesday that it will slash the salaries of its employees to cope with the business downturn brought by the coronavirus.
In an announcement signed by its CEO yesterday, the group will begin pay cuts to all of its employees on April 1. CEO Chai Bunnag also said that he will not be taking salaries or any compensations from the company in an attempt to help the company weather through the crisis, which impacts nearly every industry in Thailand.
“The … unpredictable extent of the COVID-19 outbreak is causing a severe impact on the country’s economy and the company’s business activities,” the letter said. “Therefore, in order to keep the company afloat during this crisis, the company has to implement measures to mitigate the impact.”
Apart from cutting salaries, the company also allows department managers to put their staff on unpaid leave, suspend overtime pay, discontinue welfares not directly related to work or safety, and terminate other compensations beyond the salary.
Managers are also allowed to lay off employees if they deem the measure to be necessary the letter added.
The Nation Multimedia Group owns English-language The Nation news site, a digital TV station, three Thai papers, two online news agencies, and a publishing house.
The company did not specify how much pay will be cut.
Prior to the epidemic, the group had already been struggling financially in recent years, forcing the group to ditch printed editions of The Nation and pull its TV channel from the air last year.
