Silversea redundancies

[Silver Spectre]

One of my friends in the Australian office has just been made redundant after 15+ years with Silversea. Apparently there are others. Has anyone heard about this.

[fastship]

Miami office had redundancies as well. 

[Silver Spectre]

26 minutes ago, fastship said:

Miami office had redundancies as well. 

So what is going on? SS is expanding its fleet and its customer base. Is this some more RCL cost cutting? It’s currently very evident on the Shadow.

[spinnaker2]

It’s called RIF

or

reduction

in

force

 

eliminate the job basically

 

 

[mysty]

13 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

It’s called RIF

or

reduction

in

force

 

eliminate the job basically

 

 

 

That's just sad! 

[gcornell]

Thousands are laid off very day from well run and profitable companies and the unemployment rate is extremely low which indicates, to me, the job market is strong and operating efficiently.  Companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders.  

[canderson]

1 hour ago, gcornell said:

Thousands are laid off very day from well run and profitable companies and the unemployment rate is extremely low which indicates, to me, the job market is strong and operating efficiently.  Companies have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders.  

These aren't always RIFs - they're sometimes just swaps.  In some organizations, 15+ year employees (as the OP mentions) are cashiered and replaced with newbies simply to reduce payroll and vacation liability.  Even as a shareholder, I know how that can impact customer service.

 

[gcornell]

Could be but without having information it seems silly to jump to the worst conclusion.  I guess I’m a glass half full person. 

[DavyWavey70]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

These aren't always RIFs - they're sometimes just swaps.  In some organizations, 15+ year employees (as the OP mentions) are cashiered and replaced with newbies simply to reduce payroll and vacation liability.  Even as a shareholder, I know how that can impact customer service.

 

Don’t you have any real laws over there? If somebody was made redundant in the uk it would have to be proved that the position no longer existed. If somebody less senior was brought in to fulfill the role then the company would be hung out to dry with huge fines. 

[Tex1]

When they folded the flight department in with RCL, it was only a matter of time before these were done as well.  Sadly most were just order takers and provided little real value.  Your mostly better off with a knowledgeable TA instead anyway.

[mchell810]

2 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Don’t you have any real laws over there?

 

Nope!   And if need be, companies will slightly change job titles or job descriptions so they can claim a new employee is in a newly created position.

 

[DavyWavey70]

19 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

 

Nope!   And if need be, companies will slightly change job titles or job descriptions so they can claim a new employee is in a newly created position.

 

That’s unbelievable. Over here (UK) if you made a person redundant and employed another in the same or similar role you’d be fined out of business. 

[DavyWavey70]

25 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

 

Nope!   And if need be, companies will slightly change job titles or job descriptions so they can claim a new employee is in a newly created position.

 

An example of UK redundancy law is my partner. My partners branch of Travel Agency was closing  due to non agreement in a renewal of branch lease. They did everything they could to keep my partner but because he requested redundancy and they couldn’t provide similar terms it was his choice. He walked away with 19k and opened his own travel agency. His previous employer set up an active campaign to run a loss making branch close to him to put him out of business. Thomas Cook luckily went under in Sept 19 on his Birthday. Some of those 30 year+ employees left with only 5k. He has employed every one of those previous employees  and is about to open his second shop.

[mchell810]

6 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

An example of UK redundancy law is my partner. My partners branch of Travel Agency was closing  due to non agreement in a renewal of branch lease. They did everything they could to keep my partner but because he requested redundancy and they couldn’t provide similar terms it was his choice. He walked away with 19k and opened his own travel agency. His previous employer set up an active campaign to run a loss making branch close to him to put him out of business. Thomas Cook luckily went under in Sept 19 on his Birthday. Some of those 30 year+ employees left with only 5k. He has employed every one of those previous employees  and is about to open his second shop.

 

He was very lucky; I am glad it worked out so well for him (and for those he was ultimately able to offer a job.)  

[DavyWavey70]

1 minute ago, mchell810 said:

 

He was very lucky; I am glad it worked out so well for him (and for those he was ultimately able to offer a job.)  

I’m so proud of him, his girls and all that they have achieved. I’m Even more proud of the way he has treated the one that was tasked with putting him out of business that now has a minor roll within the same franchise group.  He’s smothered her with kindness. As a bystander, Karma can be sweet. 

[drron29]

The Australian office has obviously been downgraded. In the past when I had a question for Silversea my TA would say I will ring Sydney and get back to you later today.

On the last 3 occasions with them the answer is i will contact Miami and will get back to you when they reply. The shortest time for a reply was a week.

[canderson]

3 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Don’t you have any real laws over there? If somebody was made redundant in the uk it would have to be proved that the position no longer existed. If somebody less senior was brought in to fulfill the role then the company would be hung out to dry with huge fines. 

How does it go there if your job is made redundant in the UK, only to be recreated on another continent where relative newbies are being hired to do that job? 

[labrasett]

9 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

That’s unbelievable. Over here (UK) if you made a person redundant and employed another in the same or similar role you’d be fined out of business. 

Well not really actually, first of all the penalties are not really that great and second the businesses find ways around the regulations even though that shouldnt be possible.   Think back to the Covid excuses.   British Airways changed terms and conditions for all their staff, dismissed and re-engaged and changed operating processes and practices to substantiate changes in roles.   In reality they succeeded in dispensing with the services of most of their senior (well paid and highly experienced) cabin (and I believe ground) staff and replaced them with new staff.  Virgin Atlantic did the same and they are facing a group tribunal claim this week that the covid related reorganisation was just and excuse to get rid of the older (better paid) staff in favour of younger and new employees on lower salaries.

[labrasett]

So who has been made redundant in SSC?   From the internet it looks like it has been mainly the people who co-ordinated business with "trade" customers rather than the person to person SSC agent in the various offices around the world.  Does anyone actually know?

[gcornell]

3 hours ago, labrasett said:

So who has been made redundant in SSC?   From the internet it looks like it has been mainly the people who co-ordinated business with "trade" customers rather than the person to person SSC agent in the various offices around the world.  Does anyone actually know?

Where’s the fun in that?  Having facts prior to judging is against the rules of Internet forums. 😜

[bohaiboy]

My guess is they are outsourcing to countries with call centers that are much less expensive.  Who knows, CS may improve as the log term SS employees have gotten lazy, and I have seen numerous complaints on here and other sites complaining about the CS.  But who really knows.

[UKCruiseJeff]

3 minutes ago, bohaiboy said:

My guess is they are outsourcing to countries with call centers that are much less expensive.  Who knows, CS may improve as the log term SS employees have gotten lazy, and I have seen numerous complaints on here and other sites complaining about the CS.  But who really knows.

 

An unintended consequence of mass computerisation is that humans have become increasingly emasculated  and their genuine value reduced because increasingly they told exactly what to do because the “computer says no”.   How often do you now have to listen to humans reading what is on the screen to you.  How often do they say “no” rather than “yes”. 

 

In this scenario when humans are adding decreasing levels of value you might be surprised to find  how rapidly virtually all of these jobs in the call centers  will be replaced by AI and they will probably  do a much better job most of the time and answer the phone more quickly without you  waiting and listening to all of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. This will “release” humans in smaller numbers to only being used where  flexibility trumps algorithms.  The rest will have to think of something new to do.

 

The consequences of these changes for many will be tough. 

 

[turtlemichael]

So was Barbara, who has pulled off a gig as CEO of Kempinski, actually retrenched and replaced by someone cheaper from within the organization? Hmmm.

[Texas Tillie]

It’s called cost cutting. Now that Royal Caribbean is in charge, it will be happening more and more. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Read the industry news articles about NCL:  their CEO is crowing about all the ways they are finding to cut costs and boost passenger revenue.  [I don't care about Norwegian, but they own Oceania and Regent.]  No luxury line can survive if owned by a mega-cruise conglomerate.