I could not believe what I was reading. British airways offered its workers to work for free. So, the employees work for free, and the company survives. Well, how are the employees going to survive? These people have mortgages and bills to pay. Many people live from paycheck to paycheck.

The Management should have proposed the employees to reduce their salaries by 8.33% which is equivalent to a month’s salary over 12 months. This way, the employees could tighten their belts without drastic changes to their lifestyles.

The proposal by British Airways may hint at more serious issues to come. British Airways could be facing a cashflow crisis. By offering its employees to work for free one month, the company will save the cashflow upfront on month. If the company had offered its employees to reduce salaries, then the cashflow savings is smaller per month and is spread out over many months. Why did the company offer “work for free” instead of “reduce salary”? Maybe because it needed to minimize cash outflow quickly.

So, would you work for free? I wouldn’t, if I am an employee. However, if I’m working on my own business, then yes I would work for free.