Admitting that the company is currently in talks with union leaders on compensation terms, POS Malaysia group CEO Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said the current manpower size is limiting its ability to generate better profit despite posting higher revenue.
“In principle now, all the union leaders understand the need to restructure the way we compensate our staff to be more performance-based, which can vary according to the performance of the business instead of being fixed in nature,” Shukrie said at a press conference after the company’s annual general meeting in Shah Alam yesterday.
According to the financial daily, Shukrie also said having 24,000 people under the group is “a lot to manage”.
The move to downsize comes as a surprise as POS Malaysia’s revenue has been steadily increasing over the last few years, from RM1.3 billion for financial year 2013 (FY13) to RM2.1 billion in FY17.
It was also revealed at the company’s AGM yesterday that the national postal service provider allocates 52% of the group’s annual revenue on average to manage employee costs.
Meanwhile, Shukrie also elaborated on the company’s plans for expansion at the regional level in order to maximise its earnings.
“Expansion plans are ongoing. We are in talks with a few parties but as we progress, we will need more partners, especially now that we are moving beyond Malaysian shores,” he was quoted as saying by TMR.
Such expansion overseas will however, not involve any physical presence with such operations simply being supervised from Malaysia.
“The risk is not as great as it would be if we were to move physically abroad. That will be harder because we will have to operate in a different ecosystem.
“We’d rather invest a lot more money to set up a base in Malaysia, but the time will come when we might have to physically cross the border in doing our business there,” Shukrie was quoted as saying.