It will be a different Christmas for everyone, including The English Court, which not only will not display its popular Cortylandia show in Madrid, but will also not hire more people to reinforce its workforce during the next campaign. The impact of coronavirus on consumption It has led the commercial group to not make specific hires for these dates, something that had never happened before in the company.
Union sources confirm to this newspaper that the company has not formally transferred this decision or given specific reasons, but they assure that it is logical considering that a part of the workforce continues in ERTE or subjected to some type of restriction as a result of the drop in activity in the centers. To this is added, in addition, that the forecasts for consumption are somewhat uncertain for the coming months.
In the middle of last month, the company asked the Government to apply restrictive measures to working hours to almost 7,000 workers, “But those affected are now a few fewer and vary depending on the needs of each center. Until a few weeks pass we will not know the exact number of those who have been affected and the measures applied (suspension or reduction)”, they say the sources consulted.
The news, advanced by Voz Pópuli, has not caused surprise internally. The number of temporary hires carried out for Christmas has been falling for several years now and was accentuated as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. “And this year, with more reason,” they allege. Instead, the company will continue to apply what they call “functional mobility”, that is, the temporary transfer of some employees to those centers where it is necessary to reinforce the tasks that require it.
Internal mobility
The group’s agreement contemplates total availability for the transfer, but last May, in the midst of the pandemic, the workers’ representatives and the English Court reached an agreement to regulate these changes. Among other things, they established a limitation to 20% of the working day in its annual calculation and, as far as possible, always look for the closest center to the initial workplace or to the home of the affected person.
“It is normal to use internal or inter-center versatility to reinforce certain sections,” they comment. In previous years, many central service and office workers have been relocated to logistics or support work where it was needed.
Now, many of the centers that previously received reinforcements will probably have to redistribute part of their staff. This is the case of Serrano or Castellana, where the absence of tourists is being noticed in a special way in sales and consumption.
Results
The company’s results recorded a 41% drop in its year-on-year billing in its first fiscal semester (March-August) as a consequence of the pandemic, although in the second quarter its income was 12.9% lower than a year earlier despite the absence of foreign tourism.
The company, which did not disclose data on its net result, also reported that gross operating profit or ebitda showed losses of 131 million in the first half of its fiscal year, compared to the positive figure of 386 million in the March-August 2019 period. Store billing fell 24%, to 4,527 million.
The group’s net debt at the end of the first fiscal semester increased by 3.8% in the interannual rate, to 3,266 million, although that figure is below the 3,945 million reached last May.
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