ABS-CBN network has undergone a retrenchment program, terminating the employment of about 90% of its workforce as of August 31.
A week after, the employees of GMA Network also received the bad news that some were being terminated from their respective jobs.
On September 8, the Kapuso network announced the termination of its staff under the GMA News TV (GNTV) who are mostly contractual employees. About 10 shows including State of the Nation (SONA); Balitanghali; Quick Response Team (QRT); and News TV Live were affected.
Most of these employees are under the project employment contracts (PEC), who are renewed every 6 to 12 months depending on the network.
Though PEC employees can be terminated after a certain project or show, they receive certain benefits as contractual employees.
However, GMA Network assured its laid-off employees, that if they will hire staff again in the future, they will prioritize them.
According to a staffer, this is the final decision of the company and they are just finalizing the termination documents.
Moreover, some of these GNTV employees have been on standby for 6 months since the start of the lockdown. Since then, they have no income as their earnings are project-based.
The GMA network however allowed them to request cash advances which are considered as loans. But with this announcement, these employees have no idea how will they pay their debts.
Though many expected that GMA will experience a spike in its advertising due to the closure of ABS-CBN but the media company said that it only produced “some incremental revenues.”
