Last Updated on March 30, 2020, 7:58 AM AST by Anthony Morris
One of the oldest companies of Barbados, Courtesy Garage Ltd has been forced to reduce its payroll due to the growing uncertainties and widespread damage which is being done by the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.
Last Friday, the company had made around 14 workers redundant.
The 98-year-old Courtesy Garage Ltd said that saying goodbye to work the colleagues is a robust and emotional task, mainly when the treasured relations have been built up over the years.
However, the company said that very careful and thorough thought was given to saving the jobs of as many employees as the company could.
As a result of all the planning and thinking, only 14 workers have been made redundant.
The company said that the hardest hit area of the company’s operations was the Courtesy Rent-A-Car as the airport rentals were at a virtual standstill and that there was a flood of rental cancellations.
The company further added that the largest block of employees which have been removed are from rentals and rentals-related departments.
On the other hand, the novel coronavirus has led to a significant disruption to global car parts supply chains.
Over this, no one has a clue as to when this disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic will end.
The company said that in an environment of growing uncertainty surrounding which is surrounding the financial impact of COVID-19 coronavirus, Courtesy Garage Ltd did not have any alternative except taking a painful but clinical look at its operations.
This has forced the company to say goodbye to several of its employees.
The company stressed on the fact that, in addition to honouring all the financial obligations to the affected employees, the company would be placing measures in place to help these people manage the transition, such as providing assistance with retraining and finding other job openings.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
