FRIED food and beverage chain Old Chang Kee got through the last 2 years of the pandemic without retrenching a single staff member, thanks to payouts from the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS).

As at March 2022, the company has 441 retail staff members, 101 factory workers and 54 employees in administration and other departments, said chief financial officer Song Yeow Chung. Of these, 80 retail workers are part-timers.

Old Chang Kee has close to 90 outlets across the island, mostly in train stations and shopping malls.

During the peak of the pandemic, the Catalist-listed company sought to maintain the base salaries of all its staff by reducing overtime, to bring total costs down.

"We also asked our staff to clear block leave, especially the older, vulnerable workers," said Song.

Old Chang Kee also froze salary increments in 2021, after its annual review in January that year.

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But to make up for the lack of a pay rise, the company gave all 516 full-time employees a flat monthly allowance from January to December 2021, partially funded by the disbursements from JSS, said Song.

"Things seemed to be improving, so when we received the (disbursements from) JSS, we thought we should distribute a portion of it to our staff," he added.

And despite the salary freeze, the company continued to provide bonuses in 2021.

Old Chang Kee will be receiving its final JSS payout on Mar 31 - and is now in a better position to do without the extra support.

Following this January's wage review, the company has since reinstated salary increments, and therefore ceased its monthly Covid-19 allowances.

Beyond just saving jobs, Old Chang Kee has worked to develop its staff too. During the pandemic, staff improved their skills through internal refresher courses on topics like halal compliance and product quality, conducted at the company headquarters.

Employees were also equipped with digitalisation knowledge, through training in areas like handling QR code payments and e-commerce shop set-up.

READ MORE:

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