'RCTI' plans to lay off employees

JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to continue operations, the privately owned RCTI television station will lay off 20 to 30 percent of its 620 regular employees, Eduard Depari, public relations manager at the station, said on Friday.

Eduard said a final decision on the plan was expected on Monday from the board of directors of the Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia and would be effective as of March 1.

As required by law, the station has asked the Ministry of Manpower's permission to carry out the mass firing, he said. The ministry will consider the request when the company forwards the name of the employees to be dismissed.

"We have enacted cost-saving measures in all other phases of our operation," Eduard told The Jakarta Post, adding that political uncertainty contributed to the decision. The ministry will likely allow the dismissals considering the company's financial difficulties, he said.

Eduard said that station management predicted net revenue by the end of this year would reach a maximum of Rp 140 billion. Last year the station netted Rp 200 billion, while in 1997 the station's income was Rp 360 billion.

He said that advertisers were discouraged by the declining purchasing power of consumers.

"We have to make a choice between reducing the number of employees or sinking all together," Eduard said.

The layoffs will affect all departments, including editorial, financial, sales and production. In response to how much the station, run by publicly listed PT Bimantara Citra, expected to save from the layoffs, Eduard said he could not reveal figures. He added that couples working at the station would have to choose if it would be the husband or wife who would leave the company.

"We've been hit by this crisis for the last two years," he said, adding management hinted to employees two years ago that they were not ruling out the possibility of layoffs.

Since the economic crisis began, the station, which turns 10 years old this year, stopped recruiting new employees and buying foreign programs, dismissed a number of expatriate employees and froze wage hikes.

Eduard added that local programs were still expensive, costing at least Rp 75 million.

The planned firings were recently conveyed to employees in an "open dialog", he said. Severance pay for dismissed employees will be based on manpower laws and the company's "best offer". (anr)