KLM to cut jobs and apply for shorter working hours for personnel | NOW

KLM airline wants to apply for working time reduction for all 33,000 employees in the Netherlands, the company reports to NU.nl. KLM is forced by this emergency measure because fewer and fewer people are flying because of the outbreak of the corona virus.

Employees will start working 30 percent less from April if it is up to KLM. Costs will also be cut considerably and jobs will disappear. Employees were informed by KLM on Friday, including via a video message from CEO Pieter Elberts.

“Frankly, looking at where we are today on Friday versus where we were on Monday, an incredible amount has happened in five days,” said Elberts, announcing a package of measures that will make the company “much more robust.”

“Every day a new plan is made that can be thrown back in the garbage bin three days later when there is a new country closing down,” said the CEO. More and more countries are closing the borders for international passengers and as a result many flights are canceled worldwide. For example, an entry ban from the European Union to the United States will apply for thirty days from Saturday morning Dutch time.

KLM takes an extensive package of measures. A quarter of all flights will be canceled in March, and many more in April and June.

Shorter working hours, jobs cut and no profit distribution

As of April 1, all employees will work 30 percent less if it is up to KLM, although that plan still has to be discussed with the unions. This concerns approximately 33,000 people in the Netherlands. KLM applies for a reduction in working hours, which means that employees’ wages are supplemented with benefits from the UWV benefits agency.

1,500 to 2,000 full-time jobs will also be canceled immediately. These are people with a temporary contract that will not be renewed. Current courses are also being discontinued.

The 2019 profit distribution that would normally be distributed to employees in April will be cut. Nor will the management receive any bonus for the time being.

KLM in trouble due to US entry ban

On Thursday, KLM CEO Pieter Elbers called the entry ban between Europe and the United States introduced by US President Donald Trump “dramatic”. According to him, the consequences of the entry ban are greater than the canceled flights to China. “The North Atlantic market has traditionally been very important to KLM,” said Elbers.

The Dutch airline operates approximately one hundred flights a week to destinations in the US. In addition, dozens of flights are operated by KLM partners Air France and Delta Airlines. More than two hundred flights depart from Schiphol to the United States every week.

The exact financial consequences cannot yet be accurately estimated. A month ago, Elbers spoke about a loss of 200 million euros. “That is an amount that we looked like a mountain at the time, but which I would immediately sign for. Every time we are surprised by new information.”

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