Telecommunications giant PCCW Ltd (0008) has no plans to lay off staff and remains confident of maintaining its usual capital expenditure level despite the financial tsunami, the group's managing director Alex Arena assured yesterday.
Although the global economy is slowing down, PCCW's operations remain very stable, Arena told reporters on the sidelines of the company's sports and fun day.

He expressed confidence the company can maintain a capital expenditure level of about US$400 million (HK$3.12 billion) - the same as last year - although the exact level has yet to be decided.

PCCW is growing, and its Now TV unit will soon launch the self-produced Now Hong Kong channel, which will require the company to hire more staff, Arena said.

Some other business units may need to prepare for changes, so some employees will be reallocated within the firm, Arena said.

However, he stressed there are no plans for layoffs.

Hong Kong is an open economy, so it will be hard to avoid the impact of the financial turmoil, Arena said, adding PCCW will review operations to make sure there are no problems.

Asked about the privatization proposal from PCCW chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai and China Network Communications, Arena said whether the privatization goes through or not will not have much effect on staff.

Asked whether PCCW will pay its staff the usual year-end bonus, Arena said: "It's too early to tell."

Source:thestandard