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About 100 staff will be affected by SilkAir route transfers

About 100 SilkAir staff will be affected by route transfers ahead of its merger with Singapore Airlines.

Last week, Singapore Airlines announced that Scoot will take over a number of SilkAir's routes over the next two years ahead of the merger, with changes expected to take place between April 2019 and the second half of 2020.

As a result of these changes, once SilkAir stops operations in 17 cities including Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and Wuhan (China), about 100 staff across the affected stations will be left without jobs.

Responding to Human Resources' queries, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson said: "As SilkAir’s integration into SIA is a multi-year programme, SilkAir's employees will transfer to SIA progressively to support the enlarged SIA regional operation. As a result of route transfers, however, SilkAir operations in several cities will cease.

"SilkAir will be working with affected staff for possible placement opportunities in other SIA stations, and working with Scoot, general sales agents and ground handling agents on job options that may be available with them."

Additionally, the airline will be engaging the services of employment agencies on placement assistance, and offering compensation packages where applicable, the spokesperson noted.


General Motors to lay off about 14,700 staff

In other news, to adapt to changing market conditions and customer preferences, General Motors (GM) yesterday announced plans to accelerate its transformation for the future.

Transformation plans include:

  • Transforming product development by evolving its global product development workforce and processes.
  • Optimising product portfolio by prioritising future vehicle investments in its next-generation battery-electric architectures.
  • Increasing capacity utilisation by closing seven plants globally - five in North America (Oshawa Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Detroit; Lordstown Assembly in Warren, Ohio; Baltimore Operations in White Marsh, Maryland; and Warren Transmission Operations in Warren, Michigan) and two additional unannounced plants outside North America by the end of 2019.
  • A 15% reduction of salaried and salaried contract staff, including 25% fewer executives. This will help ensure GM has the right skill sets for today and the future while streamlining decision making. An estimated 14,700 people will be affected by this move.

These actions are expected to increase annual adjusted automotive free cash flow by $6 billion by year-end 2020 on a run-rate basis.

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said: "The actions we are taking today continue our transformation to be highly agile, resilient and profitable, while giving us the flexibility to invest in the future. We recognise the need to stay in front of changing market conditions and customer preferences to position our company for long-term success."

Photo / 123RF

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