- Recommend a strategy on how employee separations might be executed such that all separations are legal, and amicable to both employer and employees?

- Recommend a creative but reasonably priced separation package (consider both economic and non-economic elements).You may propose more than one package if there are other approaches to reduce headcount. Assume the Company has set aside a war chest.

- How might the company pick the handful of employees for transfer to the new site without incurring any legal and/or labor-relations issues?

- What might be the key performance indicators forthe TransitionTeam?

Case: A fresh start for the ABC Corporation The ABC Corporation was formed after WWII by a Filipino-Chinese businessman, Mr. Frederick Ong. From a humble beginning of running a general merchandise store in Binondo, Manila selling rice, starch and cooking oil and spices, Mr. Ong expanded his business into the canning of processed fish products. Its first factory was built in 1948 in nearby Tondo, Manila. Over the years, the company expanded the business into the production cooking oil and canned meat products. The third- generation Ongs now run the company. In 1998, they hired professionals to manage the business. At present, only two Ongs sit on the board of directors, while the rest has become passive shareholders while pursuing their own careers outside the business. The Tondo location has since become less than ideal. The factory operation is often disrupted by flooding especially during high tide and monsoon seasons. The neighborhood has also become overly crowded with informal settlers. Truck drivers complain of harassment and product pilferage by street thugs whenever their delivery trucks are caught in heavy moving traffic along the narrow streets of Tondo. The company is unionized. Five hundred thirty out of 565 employees are union members. The Management Committee (ManCom) headed by an Ong made the decision to shut down the Tondo Plant and start new operations in a PEZA industrial site in Clark, Pampanga, some 70 km north of Manila. The new site will use the latest technology and automate most operations that are still labor-intensive in the old Plant. New product lines will be introduced. Target start of the new site is July 2023. Target cessation of Tondo operations is December 2023. The new site will only need 100 rank-and-file employees at start-up. The headcount is estimated to grow by 20% every year up to a maximum of 200 employees. In the new site, hires must have completed at least Senior High School education, preferably with technical backgrounds. Individuals with engineering degrees will also be considered. The new management team will be lean: one plant director, three senior-level department managers, and a few first-line managers. Operations will be three shifts, six days per week. A transition team was formed to oversee the transfer. The transition team consisted of the heads of Manufacturing, QA and HR, and a representative from the retainer law office. The ManCom mandated the transition team to limit employee transferees to no more than 10% of the staff in the new site at any given time. The ManCom wants to develop a high-performance work culture. They did not want to transfer old undesirable employee attitudes, work habits and practices. Moreover, they envision the site to remain union-free as is the norm in the PEZA site. Without being explicit, they did not want any past or present union officer to be transferred. The table below presents the current headcount data in the Tondo Plant: Union members Demographics Headcount total 565 Senior Management 10 Middle/Junior Management 15 Confidential non-managerial 10 530 Demographics Sex Male Female 12 3 00 N 400 130 3 Age Max Min Ave 58 28 40 58 30 40 56 35 59 20 48 38 Aged 50 years and older Retiring in the next 5 years UN 1 2 200 20 0 2 0 0 8 2 8 5 1 9 70 35 Educational attainment Post college degrees College degree Technical Non-tech Vocational Technical Non-tech College undergraduate High School grad/ under 0 0 90 60 210 65 0 Your team has been hired as HRM consultants to advise the Transition Team. The ManCom expressed a singular expectation: Preserve the company's good relationship with the Tondo employees till the end, and maintain its brand as a just and fair employer