9y
No senior staff was asked to take four month leave. Some senior staff who were paid to market (!) and to their previous salaries (!) were asked to reduce their package during a time where the company had to sort out fund raising, and only the very senior staff were included in this salary restraint exercise. Such an exercise is not uncommon in companies or in start-ups. In time, when the Company does well, these same staff would have been rewarded with Share Options. In anycase, all staff were paid up to current day, and only some remain on the salary restraint, which is a directive to help the Company under Fund Raising Constraints in a Fintech. The staff in KL were released under a specific directive. Globally, something like this is not unusual. We see it in all major banks worldwide in downturns where thousands are released. It is regretful that the staff who were released over this period did not understand the more macro issues. However, their emotions are perfectly understandable as are their perceptions which is from their standpoint. It is very unfortunate that the staff seemed to have fired off responses and not understand the underlying issues. Perhaps this is indicative of the age-group and experiences of the staff. In the time that the office was observed, all development staff left the office by 730 pm most days. The KL office had hardly been open on Saturdays and Sundays. The 24/7 is not possible therefore, and of all development teams in the company over the 5 years, the KL team were given many special privileges over the 1 year they were onboard. Perhaps it is a matter of expectations.
