Q: How has your group played a part in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis?

Softlogic Holdings followed all government and health authority regulations, and adhered to the standards set for all the industries in which we operate.

The safety of our employees and curbing the spread of the virus were imperatives.

Just as it has globally, COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the national economy and this has brought with it several challenges calling for difficult decisions – such as salary reductions, cutting costs and closing offices, for a period of between one and a half months to two months.

From June onwards, we got back to business save for tourism related activities. The rest have thankfully returned to normal at least domestically. Some difficulties persist due to import restrictions. And retail for example, is moving slowly.

COVID-19 has been all encompassing in its reach, and impacted hotels, tourism and several other areas of our businesses.

However, in spite of this, the group and its holdings have been able to contribute to the national effort in several ways, leveraging on the expertise and skills of our staff especially from the healthcare angle.

Q: Are any special benefits being offered to staff in the light of the crisis, and its impact on jobs and earnings – if so, could you cite a few examples?

While the market has not permitted us to incentivise staff for their contribution to the extent we would have liked, we’ve paid those who worked around the clock extra – and felicitated and recognised their efforts to boot.

Our supermarket business was crucial during the extended curfew and helped the economy by providing delivery of goods to customers’ homes. For this purpose, our staff worked 24/7, and their efforts have undoubtedly kept both the company and our customers going.

It would be remiss to ignore the efforts of our hospital staff.

COVID-19 has proved that healthcare ought to be a priority worldwide. Our medical staff contributed their time and sacrificed dearly to keep healthcare operational in what was a dangerous environment. This required motivation from our end to help them.

In conclusion, the health authorities and government ought to be commended for striving to ensure the domestic economy could operate in safety which kept business going.

However, there will be difficulties going forward with costs involved. Rapid developments globally require us to be cognisant and respond to the volatility there now is in the world.

The lessons we have learned during this period are crucial; not everyone needs to work in an office to keep businesses running smoothly, we can streamline operations, cut costs and make organisations leaner. This is an important learning for businesses locally.

We have to be careful, dynamic and future-proof to avoid the risks of tomorrow.