Startek cuts non-essential expenditures; CEO to forgo 'cash compensation' in 2020

BPO company Startek, which employs over 20,000 people in India, on Tuesday said it has cut all non-essential expenses and capital expenditures and is in discussions with lenders to restructure debt.

Further, its Executive Chairman and CEO Aparup Sengupta will forgo all cash compensation in 2020 to mitigate the impact of corovirus pandemic on financial health of the company.

"Executive Chairman and CEO Aparup Sengupta has not received compensation in any form since his appointment on January 15, 2020 and will forgo any cash salary for the remainder period," the company statement said.

"The decision comes in order to mitigate financial impacts to the company as global markets are impacted from widespread disruption and mandated steps to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus," Startek said.

Headquartered in Colorado, US, Startek acquired India's leading BPO firm Aegis in 2018 and now has presence in 13 countries, employing over 47,000 people across 54 BPO centres globally.

"Our top priority continues to be the health and safety of our employees and we've implemented key measures to maximize our operations and efficiency in response to the covid-19 pandemic," Sengupta said.

The company employees around 20,000 people in India across about 20 BPO centres located in tier 1 and 2 towns.

"We are continuously enabling employees to work-from-home after obtaining requisite client approvals. We are aligning our workforce to match with the current revenue levels and also managing our operating costs with an emphasis on minimizing disruption to our global business operations," Sengupta said.