Taxi giant lays off 1,300 employees

By Dat Nguyen October 21, 2020 | 08:18 pm PT

A Vinasun taxi seen in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Shutterstock/StreetVJ.

Vinasun has cut its staff by 1,300 in the first nine months as it restructures to reduce costs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The staff cut has lowered the company’s salary costs by 35.5 percent year-on-year to VND80 billion ($3.4 million), saving it VND4.9 billion each month. It now has 4,480 employees.

However, lower salary costs have not been enough to offset Covid-19 impacts. The firm’s revenue in the first nine months plunged 52 percent year-on-year to VND734.7 billion, with business mostly frozen in April during the nationwide social distancing campaign.

It has posted a loss of VND185 billion so far this year, compared to a post-tax profit of VND94 billion in the same period last year.

It forecasts a post-tax loss of VND115 billion this year.

Company leaders have said they expect the recovery process to be slow due to a lack of foreign visitors. After Vietnam closed its borders and stopped international flights in March, only a few routes have resumed operations.