COVID-19 effect: OYO extends employee furlough by another six months
What's the story
The fallout of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry has forced OYO India to extend the furlough period of some of its employees by another six months. As an alternative option, the hospitality chain has also introduced a program to let these employees voluntarily separate from the Ritesh Agarwal-led company, with certain benefits. Here's all you need to know about it.
Furlough
Occupancy, revenues hit by India's lockdown
In a recent blog post, OYO's CEO Rohit Kapoor said that the lockdown India enforced to contain the pandemic has severely affected the company's business. "Occupancies and revenues for the entire hospitality industry, including OYO, were deeply impacted," he said, adding that "nobody had the idea that the lockdown will be extended four times until June 30, leaving a long-lasting impact on the business."
Uncertainty
Uncertainty still looms over the business
Kapoor claimed that even though they are hopeful of domestic recovery in the future, there is no clear visibility of the timeline, as the infections are still surging and affecting consumer behavior. He said, "We don't quite know when our occupancies and revenues will recover to pre-COVID levels. In such a situation, we do not foresee many more roles opening up anytime soon."
Extension
Owing to this, furlough period is being extended
Owing to this uncertainty, Kapoor said, OYO is extending the furlough period of its employees by another six months until February 28. However, in case an employee does not want to stay on leave anymore, there will be an alternative Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) to leave the company. The choice between the two options has to be submitted before September 11.
Benefits
What the two options entail?
Employees opting for VSP will be entitled to financial assistance, relaxation on ESOP vesting, health insurance, career transition support, amongst other things. Meanwhile, those extending the furlough will be provided with health insurance coverage, financial assistance to support the education of their kids, vaccination allowance as well as support for better career opportunities with OYO's Outreach program. Full details are available on OYO's site.
Quote
This is not what we wanted: Kapoor
"This will never measure up to what we would have liked to do, or what they would have expected of us — we extend our sincere apologies. We are living in a world where everything is far from ideal, the solution may still be sub-optimal."