This archive report was first published on 26 June 2021.
Published on June 26, 2021, Standard Group employees are smiling all the way to the bank after management restored full salaries, a strong indication of an improving business environment in the media industry.
Standard Group, which owns Standard newspaper and KTN, had effected a cross-the-board pay cut of up to 30% in April 2020 to cushion itself against the ravaging effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to the April 2020 schedule, staff earning Ksh100,000 per month or less had a reduction of 20%, while those with more than Ksh100,000 per month took 25% shave. The company’s Board of Directors also took a cut on their allowances and deferred the payable amount “until such a time that things will normalize.”
However, on June 16, 2021, the company released a memo announcing resumption of full salary payments effective June 1, 2021, also benefiting its correspondents who had also been affected.
Standard Group CEO Orlando Lyomu said, “we need to redouble our efforts to face the challenges ahead,” while acknowledging that the business still faces challenges as Covid-19 continues to shake the country and media consumption and advertising trends shift.
Despite the ongoing challenges, the company has decided to resume payment of full salaries, with efforts to achieve savings in other areas of the business continuing. The company’s management is cautiously optimistic, but the road to recovery is paved with many hurdles, including a loss of Ksh434 million and battling against a defiant pandemic.
Standard Group posted a Ksh434 million pre-tax loss for the year ended December 31, 2020, an improvement from Ksh684 million loss recorded in 2019. The company has launched several new businesses, including two new stations – Vybez and Spice – and two TVs (KTN Burudani and Farmers TV), which despite guzzling huge finances are yet to break even.
