No layoffs, Asian Paints will give salary increments to boost employees morale

• Asian Paints is raising staff salaries or going ahead with annual increments to boost their morale amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  
• The share prices of Asian Paints gained over 2% to ₹1,554 on May 15, as the salary hikes were announced.
  
• As of now, there have been no layoffs in the company either.
  
• Meanwhile, the third phase of the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and people’s concerns with regard to social distancing is expected to hit Asian Paints sales
  

At a time when a lot of employees are being handed out pink slips, Asian Paints is raising staff salaries or going ahead with annual increments to boost their morale amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, they’ve admitted that the revenues might fall.

"We have to set an example of true leadership and an organisation that takes care of all its stakeholders. I have been updating the board regularly on all such initiatives and have received their approval for these actions. I see this as a big opportunity to step in and interact with every single employee and assuage their concerns in an uncertain marketplace. We are not in the hire and fire business,” MD and CEO Amit Syngle told ET.

The share prices of Asian Paints gained over 2% to ₹1,554 on May 15, as the salary hikes were announced.

As of now, there have been no layoffs in the company either. "Despite the challenging environment due to COVID-19, we haven't laid off people. Firing people is not the Asian Paints culture," a company official told CNBC. The paint maker said that the company is chalking out a plan for exceptional circumstances.

In the meantime, Asian Paints asked its vendors to relax the payment terms to maintain the working capital. It is also giving concessions to dealers and free sanitization of paint shops, medical insurance of the painters. It added that a 45- day extension on payments would be provided — and 2% discount for those who make the payment within the stipulated time.

This might help the company’s financial situation, and its employees in the long run.

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The third phase of the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and people’s concerns with regard to social distancing is expected to hit Asian Paints sales. “We see significant risks to sales growth as we expect consumers to down-trade and extend the repainting cycle given the macroeconomic slowdown,” the Goldman Sachs report predicts.

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Asian Paints’ shareholders had a fear that Goldman Sachs just confirmed— Indians will not rush to do up their homes

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