No More Layoffs For The Next Two Years: I-Cable

The heads of the i-Cable news department issued a statement on Thursday promising not to lay off any more members of staff or cut their wages over the next two years.

The move came after the department sacked 40 of its employees on Tuesday, citing financial difficulties. Those made redundant included journalists, camera operators and production workers.

The mass layoff sparked anger within the department, with several section heads, more than 10 local reporters, and around a dozen staff from the China Desk tendering their resignations in protest.

The statement, issued by the four heads of the news department Edna Tse, Hui Fong-fai, Oscar Lee and Anderson Chan, said the company is under a great deal of financial pressure due to recent social conditions and the pandemic.

They said they have already done their best to minimise the impact of the company's restructuring, adding that the list of staff to be sacked was compiled by themselves along with colleagues from the human resources department.

They acknowledged that the move “wasn’t perfect”, and said they should have communicated better with the various section heads before making the decisions.

The four said the company's management has made three promises: not to change the editorial direction of i-Cable news, not to lay off or cut the wages of staff over the next two years, and to promote colleagues who perform well.

The news managers also apologised for what were said to be offensive remarks made during the saga.

On Tuesday, some staff were angry with Chan's comments that they were "negotiating like thugs".