THE management of Philippine Airlines (PAL) has downsized its customer service teams in Manila and Cebu as part of the company’s manpower rationalization program.
“This is the result of the manpower rationalization program of Air Philippines Corp. to ensure operational efficiency. Of the total number of employees covered, 95 percent accepted the package,” said PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna in a statement yesterday.
“They were given separation pay equivalent to one month for every year of service and cash commutation of their accrued leaves,” she added.
The program targets to cover a total of 227 employees.
As of their meeting yesterday, Villaluna said that out of 193 Manila-based employees covered by the program, 183 accepted the package, while 33 out of the 34 Cebu-based employees accepted the package.
“The goal of the program was to determine the ideal or the appropriate number of employees for each specific task....the streamlining will help us achieve operational efficiency,” she said.
The airline management said it has reached out to the employees through a dialogue.
“It was a smooth meeting. We had an orderly way of informing the employees the rationale behind the movement and they were well briefed of what’s to come,” she said.