Recently, Genesis Group Nigeria, the company that owns the Genesis Restaurant and Deluxe Cinemas chain cut workers’ salaries by various percentages, with some workers even getting a 50% pay cut and some getting sacked for no reason but “the situation of the economy”.
Yes, we all know the economy is bad but as insiders, we know how much the company makes monthly and how much of our blood and sweat is put into making those billions for them.
Sometimes we are slaved tirelessly, even till late hours without getting paid overtime (company policy) all in the name of meeting “a quota”. Note: The economy doesn’t affect the company, they increased prices of their food et al to match the situation, yet they’re cutting salaries. Even if they didn’t increase prices, they would still be making profits of over 70% on most items.
Drivers and Kitchen Staff that previously earned a meagre N30,000 now earn between N15000 – N20000 and most of them can barely afford to feed their families, not to even talk about fees, rent and other bills.
A widow who works as a staff here said one of her 2 children has to stay at home next term because she can’t afford his school fees and she’s hardly employable anywhere else. The rate at which people are being laid off is unfair & inhumane not to talk about the way staff are treated.
I’ve worked in this company for years and each day I pray to God that I find a better job at a company that values its workers. Honestly, over 95% of staff here are only here because they haven’t gotten anything better and would gladly leave at the slightest opportunity.
The company owns several restaurants but can’t feed its workers properly, the food we are given is what prisoners would reject, most times its half-cooked, excessively salty, no maggi and the worst of all, no meat and they can’t even provide water for us to drink.
I am pained, I am angry, how do I explain to my children that they can no longer have 3 square meals because “my oga at the top” is a heartless and inconsiderate man who only cares about how much he makes while neglecting the large number of families he’s destroying.
If you go to any Genesis Fast food, you’d never know of our plight because the staff are forced to put on fake smiles and pretend to customers, while suffering inside. There’s no point for people to patronize Genesis anymore when despite all the money you spend, it’s all going to the pocket of one person while we the “money generators” are treated like slaves.
We have nobody to fight for us. Anybody that opposes, gets fired instantly and their terminal benefits forfeited. We know that even if the economy gets better tomorrow, our salaries will not be restored because we work for greedy sets of human beings.
We live in a country where employers get away with all sorts of things because the system doesn’t work. A company where your boss can walk in and slap you for no reason or maybe because someone annoyed him at home, is that one company?
To all of you bringing your CVs, we here are struggling to leave. God help us all. Shalom.
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