One thing has been made very evident in the last few months: pandemics are bad for business.
All around the world, businesses that thrived before the Covid-19 outbreak are now crumbling and struggling to stay afloat.
In Singapore, taxi and private-hire vehicle firms are one of the hardest-hit groups.
Some taxi drivers have even started making food and grocery deliveries due to the lack of customers.
ComfortDelGro and SMRT have also waived rentals for their drivers during the circuit breaker period, but not every company can afford to do so.
Grab Slashed Pay of Managers by 20% & Ask Employees to Take Voluntary Unpaid Leave As They’re Affected, Too
Grab has slashed the pay of its senior management by up to 20% and encouraged its employees to take voluntary unpaid leave, due to its fall in revenue.
Drivers received a note on Wednesday (29 April) from Grab Singapore’s head of transport, Andrew Chan, who warned that the company might no longer be able to give them more financial help if the circuit breaker period is extended.
“As our revenues continue to fall, senior Grab leaders have taken a pay cut of up to 20 per cent and Grab staff have also been encouraged to take no-pay leave voluntarily.
“We had been hopeful that the stricter circuit breaker measures would be lifted next week and people can resume their daily lives. Instead, the circuit breaker period was extended to June 1.
“We may no longer be able to provide extra financial support if the circuit breaker is extended past June 1”, he wrote.
Netflix: And we may not be able to give emotional support if the circuit breaker is extended.
Financial Support
There are several measures Grab has introduced to support their drivers financially during a time where customers are hard to come by.
For one, Grab will continue to cut its commission by at least 50 per cent, reported The Straits Times.
According to Grab’s website, drivers usually have to pay a commission of 20%, which means it’ll be cut to 10%.
Drivers renting their cars from Grab, however, will also not have to pay any commission until 10 May. But what happens after that is unclear.
Their drivers have also been receiving a weekly payout of either $45 or $85 to help supplement their income, and this will be extended till end-May.
“Extending the assistance was not an easy decision, Grab’s business has also been badly hit”, Mr Chan said.
In order to continue the financial support, funds had to be diverted from schemes such as incentives for best-performing drivers and cancellation compensation, according to The Straits Times.
Grab employees even made voluntary donations which were matched by the firm to fund the extension of financial assistance.
Boss: You hear that? Where can I find such generous employees?
How can I donate money to you when you made me pay you to work?
Boss: Ok good point.
Mr Chan added that Grab will continue to create more job opportunities for its drivers, such as switching to deliveries.
ComfortDelGro Cabbies Making Deliveries
As I previously mentioned, some taxi drivers have had to start making food and grocery deliveries to earn some extra income during the Covid-19 outbreak.
ComfortDelGro, for instance, paired up with RedMart and even McDonald’s so their drivers could deliver groceries and tasty burgers to residents here.
And recently, the taxi company introduced a new delivery service called ComfortDelivery, where cabbies can make deliveries for F&B establishments.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say. With so many taking pay cuts, unpaid leave, or even losing their jobs, one can only hope that the pandemic dies down soon so our lives can go back to normal.
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With bubble tea shops open.