 |
HONG KONG, April 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Further to three previous waves of the #ToughTimesTogether campaign which provided relief to a range of stakeholders, including one-month service fee waivers to one million residential and corporate customers, free broadband lines to underprivileged families and working opportunities to university graduates en masse, HKBN Group ("HKBN" or the "Group", SEHK stock code: 1310) announced today that it will initiate #ToughTimesTogether Wave 4 by passing on government subsidies to a total of more than 6,000 full-time Talents in Hong Kong and all regions/countries where it operates.
Faced with unprecedented global economic challenges posed by COVID-19, many of HKBN's Talents have seen their overall family incomes adversely affected. Embracing the recent wage subsidy schemes announced by the Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR Governments, HKBN has pledged to pass on all Talent-related payout funds that it will receive from both governments to about 3,500 Talents in Hong Kong and Macau, without reducing their current salaries paid by the Group, and without any reduction to headcount as stipulated by the subsidy terms.
"At HKBN, our Talents provide essential services to our communities, so we must first take great care of our Talents before they can take great care of our communities. At HKBN, 'leaders eat last'*, so we must ensure there is enough to feed all Talents before top management get to eat," said NiQ Lai, HKBN Co-Owner and Group CEO.
According to the Hong Kong SAR Government, wage subsidies under the Employment Support Scheme are calculated based on 50% of wages in a specified month subject to a wage cap of HK$18,000 per month for six months. According to the Macau SAR Government, a one-time subsidy between MOP$15,000-$200,000 will be given to eligible employers according to the number of people they employ.
Embracing its Core Purpose to "Make our Home a Better Place to Live" wherever the Group operates, HKBN will deploy HK$15 million in business subsidies received in Singapore, Malaysia and mainland China, as a one-time financial subsidy to over 2,500 Talents there. These Talents will each receive payment from HKBN at a range equivalent to around HK$3,000 – HK$25,000 in their upcoming payroll.
NiQ added, "Together, all nine executives in our Management Committee will be donating all of our personal wage subsidies to charity, and we encourage fellow HKBNers who are under less financial difficulty to join us."
* Note: As inspired by Simon Sinek's book "Leaders Eat Last" and his video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRcHdeUG9Y.
About HKBN Group
HKBN Group ("HKBN" or the "Group"), headquartered in Hong Kong with operations spanning across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, mainland China and Macau, is a leading integrated telecom and technology solutions provider. HKBN's Core Purpose is to "Make our Home a Better Place to Live". The Group is managed by around 930 of Co-Owners (majority of supervisory and management level Talents in the Group) who have skin-in-the-game through investing their family savings to buy shares of HKBN Ltd. (SEHK Stock Code: 1310) or investing a portion of their salary towards a common KPI for the beyond-Hong Kong business of the Group. HKBN operates through three core brands, Hong Kong Broadband Network, HKBN Enterprise Solutions and HKBN JOS. The Group offers a comprehensive range of solutions that include broadband, data connectivity, managed Wi-Fi, integrated cloud solutions, information security, mobile, voice communications, digital solutions, IoT, big data, enterprise applications, data centre facilities, business continuity services, system integration that cumulative to our one-stop-shop offering of Transformation as a Service (TaaS). HKBN's tri-carrier fibre infrastructure in Hong Kong covers about 2.4 million residential homes and 7,300 commercial buildings and facilities.
Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190604/2486375-1LOGO?lang=0
