KarstadtQuelle Executives Ready for Pay Cut

Executives of the troubled German department store giant KarstadtQuelle are prepared to accept a five or 10-percent cut in wages to help get the loss-making group back on its feet, chairman Christoph Achenbach said in a newspaper interview Thursday. "In view of the current situation, we would clearly forego five or 10 percent of pay," Achenbach told the mass-circulation daily Bild. "One has to be able to look employees in the eye," Achenbach added. Earlier this week, KarstadtQuelle unveiled plans to sell nearly half of its stores, sell-off non-core activities, and seek an injection of fresh capital from shareholders in a bid to overcome a financial crisis sparked by chronically weak consumer demand in Germany and the group's own misfired diversification strategy. The giant services sector labor union Verdi estimates that more than 20,000 employees from a total workforce of nearly 100,000 could be affected by the drastic cost-cutting plans, either via straightforward job cuts or by the spin-off or sale of activities. (AFP)