British Airways to staff: 'Work for free?'
While many companies have employed a variety of survival strategies, British Airways took cost control to an entirely new level with its latest move — asking employees to work for nothing.
The inspiration for this revolutionary strategy: British Airways suffered its greatest full-year loss since being privatized back in 1987 — a loss of $595 million in U.S. dollars.
Employees are being urged to sign up for unpaid leave or unpaid work to help the company save cash and fight for its survival.
Despite BA CEO Willie Walsh’s magnanimous offer to “lead by example” and forgo his own monthly paycheck in July ($100K), the reception to BA’s proposal hasn’t been all too warm.
The union that represents thousands of BA ground and cabin workers, UNITE, said that even though Mr. Walsh could get by after working an entire month for free, its members didn’t have the same luxury.
We’ll keep you posted on the success of British Airways’ strategy.
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