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NEW
DELHI: Two months after the purchase, the new owners of English
general news channel NewsX have started the painful exercise
of cutting salaries as they support a staff strength of over
400 people.
Sketching
out a turnaround plan, the Vinay Chajjlani-Jehangir Pocha
duo have unveiled a slab-structured pay cut policy that insiders
say would shave off 10 per cent of the employee costs.
The
first scramble was to pin down the "non-people-related"
costs. But more corrective measures needed to be taken to
keep losses at check even as the news channel struggles to
garner ratings and advertising revenues.
"We
have already taken many measures to reduce the channel's rather
bloated cost structure. However, the degree to which News
X's cost structure is out of sync with reality and increasing
severity of the downturn have forced us to make the difficult
decision to reduce the compensation of all employees and contractors,"
Jehangir Pocha wrote in an email to the NewsX employees.
The
cuts vary from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, depending on the
salary structure. For those earning less than 50,000, there
will be no cuts.
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PARAMETERS*
|
% OF REDUCTION
|
| |
|
| CTC
greater than or equal to Rs. 300,000/- per month |
25%
|
| |
|
| CTC
greater than or equal to Rs. 150,000/- per month but less
than Rs. 300,000/- |
20%
|
| |
|
| CTC
greater than or equal to Rs. 100,000/- per month but less
than Rs. 150,000/- |
15%
|
| |
|
| CTC
greater than or equal to Rs. 50,000/- per month but less
than Rs. 100,000/- |
10%
|
| |
|
| CTC
less than Rs. 50,000/- |
0%
|
| |
|
| *
Specific adjustments would be ensured in borderline cases
and it would be ensured that due to reductions, the CTC’s
would not be reduced below Rs. 50,000/- per month. |
"I
know it is hard to face pay cuts when so many of you have
been working with commitment and passion to build this channel.
But I know you also realise it is not really us who are making
the decision but the economy. It is setting new rules for
business and survival in a market economy means listening
to what the market says," Pocha wrote.
NewsX
was bought out by Indi Media, a newly formed joint venture
between NaiDunia promoter Chhajlani and former Businessworld
editor Pocha.
Most
media outfits have announced salary freezes and cuts to tide
over a slowdown in the economy.
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