The coronavirus pandemic is not only causing some of radio’s biggest companies to borrow millions of dollars to stay solvent, it’s leading to salary cuts to keep people employed. Adams Radio Group is cutting the salary for every employee by 10%.
CEO Ron Stone said, “all employees agreed to take a ten percent temporary cut in compensation to prevent any downsizing of our staff. I could not be prouder of our employees. We are a family. Our goal is singular. To ensure everyone in our company gets through this crisis with the least amount of harm.
We also hear that Beasley is doing the same from April 1 through the end of June. In a memo sent to Radio Ink from a Beasley employee, CEO Caroline Beasley also stated she would be taking a 20% pay reduction.
In the memo Beasley writes, “While it is not something we want to do, it is necessary in the long-term as we continue to move forward to get to the other side of the current economic situation. In addition, we will be extending our work at home policy to April 6th. We will continue to provide you with timely updates as they become available. Please follow the guidelines provided by your respective local and state governments. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your immediate supervisor or market manager.”
In his memo to staff, Stone went on to say that this test of our country’s ability to weather a storm is unlike anything any of us have seen, “but we will get through this together, and be stronger for it. What seems like a huge sacrifice today, is miniscule compared to what our fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers sacrificed.”
He concluded by called on other companies to do the same. “I sincerely hope that any company, media or otherwise, will consider overall reductions in compensation on a temporary basis rather than terminate employees. Our most important asset is our people, and we should do all we can to keep them whole. I am so thankful for a staff that not only wants to participate in helping our company weather this storm, they are working tirelessly in our communities to keep our local businesses front and center in the minds of listeners”.
One radio head, not long ago, in our – until recently – healthy economy, was purposely offering lower pay across the board; with the stated rationale that too many good people were looking for jobs. I couldn’t believe my ears.
The result? That company has had staff churn and morale challenges, resulting in off-budget performance. In as relationship-driven a business as radio is on both the programming and sales side, the best candidates reject the above philosophy and end up elsewhere. Turnover costs (financial/morale) are huge. Knowing that all radio companies are now economically affected, wise owners/managers will ensure that current, negative payroll adjustments do not translate into permanence, post-crisis.
People are our most important asset. Investing in them will greatly determine the speed and size of radio’s rebound.