Deep Kalra and Rajesh Magow, top executives of the online travel firm, ‘MakeMyTrip’ have decided to draw ‘zero salary’ from April 2020. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the rest of its leadership team will take a reduction of around 50 per cent in their compensation. This decision by Group Executive Chairman Deep Kalra and its Group CEO Rajesh Magow was undertaken as one of the ‘tough measures’ to keep overall expenses at a minimum amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a message to its employees, Kalra and Magow said, “On people costs front, both of us will take the lead and take zero salary effective April 2020, while the rest of our leadership team have also offered to take a reduction of approximately 50 per cent in their compensation.”
The company further is reviewing operating costs as it plans to make multiple tough measures to keep overall expenses at a minimum. As it is an online company, the costs are variable. Adding to this, Kalra and Magow said, “The last few weeks have been very tough for all of us with the sudden and sharp spread of COVID-19 in India. Our stellar performance in Q3 2020 was sadly short lived as the travel and tourism sector is one of the worst sectors that have been hit by this pandemic.”
Due to the outbreak, the company witnessed a sharp drop in bookings with spiralling cancellations. Along with this, the current restrictions on domestic air, rail and bus travel has brought the industry to a virtual standstill.
The executives also mentioned that during such tough times, it is important to navigate together. The message also mentions that a few economic experts predict that the world would face an economic tsunami that will have far reaching implications for the global economy. “Therefore, we need to focus on two critical areas (i) safety and well-being of our staff, customers and the society at large, and (ii) minimising the impact to our business from these disruptions,” they added.
