ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday constituted a four-member team to investigate irregularities in the recruitment of daily wage employees in the previous tenures.

The team will be headed by GM HR Wing Commander Kamran Anjum.

According to a notification issued by the national flag carrier, the body will launch a probe into irregularities in the hiring of the daily wages staff in the PIA.

The notification stated that investigation will also be carried out against officials of the Skyrooms Private Limited for the purpose.

The team will also identify the officials in the PIA who had been involved in the malpractice and will devise a mechanism for the prevention of the practice in the future.

The national carrier’s management also imparted special authority to the probe team to approach the management of the departments concerned to seek the related record.

The investigation team will present its report to the PIA CEO with recommendations within three days.

In a bid to restructure itself, the national flag carrier plans to lay off its 7,500 of the 14,500 employees as per the voluntary separation scheme (VSS).

Three thousand and five-hundred employees will be laid off under the VSS in the ongoing month. This will help the company save Rs10.5 billion annually.

The number of employees for each aircraft will be reduced from 500 to 250. Currently, the human resource costs the PIA Rs2.6 billion monthly and Rs24.8 billion annually.

According to the plan, the dismissal of employees facing departmental inquiry for rule violations or poor performance will be completed in January 2021.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31, 2020