Meyer Turku Announces 450 Permanent Layoffs

Posted on 29 April, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

A cruise ship under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland. Photo: Meyer Turku

HELSINKI, April 28 (Reuters) – German shipyard Meyer Werft’s Finnish subsidiary on Tuesday started statutory talks to lay off up to 450 of its roughly 2,000 employees because of a hit to business from the coronavirus pandemic.

The shipyard, in Turku on Finland’s west coast, had initially started talks over temporary layoffs but said the market situation had now forced it to look for permanent cuts.

“These negotiations will include the permanent layoff of 450 people and another 900 are affected by other measures. These include temporary layoffs of different length, work time adjustments and other arrangements,” the company said in a statement.

Instead of ramping-up from one to two large ships delivered per year until 2023, the assumption is now that the Turku yard will build just one large cruise ship per year, it added.

“The corona pandemic has changed the situation unexpectedly and totally. We are facing the fact that the corona-caused pause in cruising requires to stretch the order book,” said Meyer Turku Chief Executive Jan Meyer. (Reporting by Anne Kauranen; Editing by Mark Potter)

$14 Million for Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Fain

Posted on 19 April, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean Cruises reported executive compensation for a record 2019 financial year in a Friday evening SEC filing, just two days following the announcement the company was laying off approximately 26 percent of its U.S. workforce.

CEO and Chairman Richard Fain saw a $14.4 million payday in 2019, mostly driven by stock awards. Fain has agreed to forgo his base salary through September of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other key company executives also enjoyed a robust pay check-in 2019, with Michael Bayley, president and CEO of the Royal Caribbean brand, taking in just over $7 million, up from $5.7 million the year prior.

Lisa Lutoff Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises, saw compensation at $4.4 million.

The company noted it will consider the business and financial impact to the company, shareholders and employees in evaluating 2020 performance in early 2021, citing COVID-19.

Compensation Table:

Major Layoffs at Royal Caribbean

Posted on 16 April, 2020 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean Cruises is laying off and furloughing up to 26 per cent of its the United States-based workforce.

“Earlier today, we told our employees the difficult news that we were laying off or furloughing approximately 26 per cent of our more than 5,000 coworkers in the United States,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We earlier announced the early conclusion of many crew contracts. The circumstances of the pandemic made this action unavoidable, and it hurts to part ways with so many good and talented people.”

Royal Caribbean leadership recently agreed to pay cuts, while Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings cut pay and moved to a four-day workweek.