Bermuda Layoffs Continue…at Appleby
Bernews unofficially understands that approximately ten staff were laid off at Appleby yesterday [Jan 13].
Appleby’s Bermuda office traces its history back to 1897, and according to their website the Bermuda office has over 360 staff, including 65 lawyers.
The company is the latest in a line of firms that have also experienced economic downturns leading to staff layoffs, reduced hours or pay freezes.
Earlier this week, Conyers, Dill & Pearman laid off approximately a dozen people.
Last month BELCO said in order to “delay immediate workforce redundancies”, they implemented a salary freeze.
Also during last month Saltus Grammar School said they would make eight staff members redundant as they are “experiencing declining enrolment as the local and international business communities respond to the global economic recession.”
In addition, last month Furniture Flair Ltd, which is under new ownership said “necessitated by a shrinking market, the take-over and reorganization requires several staff to be made redundant.”
Insurer Allied World also reduced staff last month, with the Bermuda Sun reporting that “Several employees worked their last days just prior to the New Year, with one worker estimating that more than 15 people were made redundant.”
Bermuda Press recently laid off 15 employees from their commercial print division.
In November 2010, The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited confirmed that some staff members have been given reduced working hours, which they say was “part of an ongoing focus on expense management.”
In October 2010, the ACE Group confirmed they will be eliminating 17 employment positions between May and September of 2011.
Earlier last year, Bermuda Telephone Company [BTC] announced plans to cut approximately 25 jobs in an effort to reduce costs as part of a restructuring plan, and Holmes Williams and Purvey [HWP] closed a department, resulting in approximately a dozen job losses.
Best of luck to the Appleby folks getting new jobs.
F**k man! We are in deep s**t! My heart goes out to those individuals.
Just the beginning – right about now, all those millions squandered by Ewart and his cronies on vanity projects and useless, parasitic flatterers posing as “consultants” would be useful to get this economy moving again…I guess we reap what we deserve.
So true. The sheeple were warned. They had it so good for so long under that nasty UBP Government that they thought the golden goose could never die. Decades of prudent Government destroyed in just a few years, mainly the ‘Brown’ years.
Y’all got what you asked for. Whatcha gonna do? Vote them in again the first chance you get?
Anywhere else there would be protesting on the street demanding that the PLP resign. An election would completely throw such a bunch of ‘unethical but not illegal’ incompetants out.
But this is Bermuda. Another World.
Amen..anywhere else in the world and people would be marching….in Bermuda if you march against this government you are a racist..Never mind protecting your childrens future the only thing that matters is supporting your government…best thing that ever happened was giving people the opportunity to get an EU passport at least some will have a place to go when the infrastructure here totally crumbles….sad and did not have to happen but at least Fearless Leader can go to Martha’s Vineyard when it all comes down…and it will…it already is…
None of this news matters. Even an unemployed PLP supporter will continue to vote PLP. Will the UBP do us all a favour and disband? Their existence guarantees Bermuda with a PLP govt.
Was another world ( as well )when all those riches you speak of were nicely distributed amongst a select few.
I agree that the PLP should go however the alternatives are at best suspect..
yet the rich elite get richer,the middle class is vanishing,poor are desperate,as Little Red Riding Hood Rawlins joins the growing list of useful idiots for (names removed);most of whom wouldn’t be caught dead with the plp ,unless it suited their greed & ambition.
It takes a long time for the damage to hit … and these layoffs are the result of years of mismanagement. Last year’s payroll tax increase was the final straw for a lot of local jobs.
It takes a lot to turn around momentum, so I am afraid there will be a lot more bad news – and some radical changes required here – before things start looking better.
Government has been too quiet. I assume they are holding off until the budget. But time’s a-wastin’ …
assumes they are off somewhere concocting the budget….this one will be a doozy…recap last year….increase tax and Bermuda will see modest growth of 2%…WRONGO…increase tax and put the brakes on hiring end up collecting less revenue and when they finally get around to discussing the 2% growth it will end up at a negative 6%….they do not know what they are doing…..
There has already been discussion amongst management of my company regarding which jobs will be moved out of Bermuda should the business taxes increase again.
I agree – any additional taxes will simply drive the economy further down.
These are serious times for Bermuda… and the killer is -these folk still have mortgages and bills that don’t go away . Are the landlords working along with them? Is the bank saying I understand when the mortgage pymt is late?… I think not… much prayer ….
Of course not… the banks don’t care if you have to go sell yourself on the corner to make payment. A lot of people are going to have to make some tough financial choices this year, closing businesses, selling homes they can longer afford to pay for, etc. 2011 is going to be a shitty year.
@ Sheriff you said the exact same thing that I said in reponse to Senator Wilson’s Statement yesterday!!!
It’s only going to get worse!!! Plenty of Stormy Seas ahead!!
even the US deferred an increase in taxes across the board. what the heck are we doing to ourselves. I need my expat tenant right now, not a vacant apartment
I hate to break it to you all but what you’re witnessing has NOTHING to do with Government spending. When Smith’s, Trimmingham’s, Archie Brown and many others disappeared during the years of plenty was that the fault of excess spending by the Government? No it was the fault of poor managers who refused to modernize and refused to believe that people would travel and pursue bargains overseas. As for these rounds of lay-offs, this economy provides the opportunity for shedding dead weight that you otherwise couldn’t remove in so called “good times”. The Bermudian disease of thinking that nothing nees to be invested into product and modernizing has afflicted every sector. look at the hotels. Business principles are the same in Bermuda as they are elsewhere. I wish this Government would stop buying into this economic fallacy that their spending is at the core of this recession. it is not; just like their ridiculous attempt to save $150m won’t fix it. New revenue streams, making ourselves more competitive as a tourism and international business jurisdiction are the only things that will turn this around.
All the front street retailers you name had made significant capital investments in their businesses to try and adapt them to changing times and the plunging tourist arrival numbers. The actions (and inactions) of Government pushed them off the cliff.
how can we become more competitive to IB though if we have to keep raising business taxes to feed the govt’s spending? reduce spending, reduce the need for these extra taxes.
the govt claims people should stimulate the economy, but by taking more from them each month, people dont want to spend here, they want to spend where it is cheaper.
..so yes, the govt spending has indeed affected all these places.
No-one is suggesting that Government ’caused’ the recession. What IS being suggested is that Government’s failure to save for a rainy day, combined with declining revenue DUE TO the recession, has exasperated the situation farther than it needed to be.
If Government had managed their finances better as they had been warned to do 3 years ago, instead of overspending on capital projects and frivolous waste, there would have been little need to increase taxes during a recession in several areas in the 2010 budget. Raising taxes in a recession is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE thing you want to do if you’re trying to spark the economy. Right now, the economy is dead because people have no money to spend, they are keeping it in their pockets. Several companies have gone on record as saying the payroll tax has had a major negative affect on their business. This is not just retail, but in the private sector like IB and construction.
That is why Government was told to SAVE MONEY, instead they did the exact opposite and now they have nothing in the kitty. The answer: burden the already overburdened taxpayer with more tax hikes, cut overtime, change the trash pick-up schedule, fail to maintain Government service vehicles, and get blood out of a stone. Impossible.
The unfortunate thing about removing ‘dead weight’, is that you are impacting families, people’s ability to pay for a roof over their head, and food on the table. Ironically, the CEO at the top is still happily taking home his 10 million a year bonus, while the Joe Schmuck making 60,000 and struggling to survive gets the axe? The MP sitting on the backbench working part-time hours, voting themselves increases and drawing a full-time salary is quite happy to tell everyone else to sacrifice. Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
Bermy, you and many others may attempt to rewrite history but those of us who know it will always challenge you with the truth. The precise reason those businesses folded is because they would not invest in anything new. The tourists who were interested in buying those sweaters, bric a brac and stuff they sold either died or were in nursing homes in Connecticut. Look at English Sports Shop’s ground floor……it is embarrassing to call that “Bermuda retail”. the decor is tired, the selection is unchanged since the 1960s and that isn’t the Government’s fault.Pretty soon the Government’s going to have to invest in some more toilet paper because for people like you that’s the only thing left you expect them to do.
So what is your explanation for the fall in sales and subsequent wage freezes and inevitable redundancies currently experienced at BELCO?
I agree with your assertion that Bermuda’s retail and hospitality sectors are in some serious need for an overhaul. But if there is no $$$ then there is no chance of this occurring. For how may quarters now has the retail sector experienced falls in sales? Must be up to close to 3/4 years now.
But how do you explain the mass redundancies in the IB sector, law firms and local banks?
Also it is the Government’s duty to attract tourists to this island. Hence the need for a Ministry of Tourism. That particular department is commissioned solely with marketing Bermuda to potential tourists to ensure that essential pillar of the economy continues to be fruitful. The Government, despite many calling for it, refuse to relinquish responsibility for this to the private sector and thus they retain ultimate responsibility for both the successes and failures.
Thus due to the failure of the one’s responsible for bringing in tourists which provide revenue to the few hotels left standing or operational these properties do not have the necessary capital to reinvest into their infrastructure. They continue to operate in the red due to the dismal tourist figures. They hardly have money to pay their existing staff much less multi-million dollar renovations.
Like it or not the Government must shoulder part of the blame for this mess. Continuing to blame the designated “boogeyman” that they have persistently blamed all their shortfalls on is becoming played out. Even the Union workers realize how the current Government is pissing our tax monies away frivolously hence the condition that their overtime would be temporarily frozen as long as the Government cuts back on their enormous spending habits.
It’s not all their fault for sure, but they definitely aren’t infallible/blameless for the situation that this whole island finds itself in nowadays.
“Pretty soon the Government’s going to have to invest in some more toilet paper because for people like you that’s the only thing left you expect them to do.”
How about the gov’t just worry about buying the toilet paper for the public schools first…
“Tuned In”,
Just a quick question:
You claim that you are “challenging with truth”…
If what you claim is truth, then I’m sure it would be no hassle to back up your claims with facts and figures and data that proves it.
Would you mind doing that?
Until you do, your “truth” is nothing more than opinion.
Hey tuned in – you are right BUT what about the job losses in law firms and IB? You raise taxes companies won’t come – IB is the only thing left. PLP policy regarding term limits, increased payroll tax, difficult BMA regulators, pathetic service in hotels and shops have all brought us further down that just a US recession!
Guys, look at what the Government is being forced to cut: overtime. nothing extra has been achieved by the culture of overtime within the public service so that means they are doing their core work and functions using overtime. That is poor management plain and simple and it shouldn’t take a recession to cut that. By analogy, those private companies that are cutting could make the same cuts in good times as they’ve made this week. in some areas they’ve cut in the compliance sections. how can you run some of their businesses which are required to comply with BMA rules and “know your customer” regulations and still cut compliance functions? the only reason you can get away with that is because those posts and people weren’t necessary to the core operation anyway. if you think for one minute that CD&P and Appleby’s are going to run the risk of not being able to function according to the BMA rules you’re crazy. The recession simply brings into focus bad practices. All developers, investors and bankers will tell you that there is more cash available now than there has ever been; the issue is one of confidence. it is right that the Government cut spending and aim to be more efficient but to suggest that its conduct is the cause of the recession and that their cuts will fix it is complete nonsense.
“if you think for one minute that CD&P and Appleby’s are going to run the risk of not being able to function according to the BMA rules you’re crazy”
FYI
The BMA only regulates/supervises financial institutions/entities that are licensed to do business within Bermuda. CD&P, Appleby and any other law firm does not fall under the BMA’s remit…
Both law firms have trust companies that are regulated by the BMA though.
“to suggest that its conduct is the cause of the recession and that their cuts will fix it is complete nonsense.”
Again, I don’t think anyone is saying the Government caused the recession. But certainly it shouldn’t take a recession to force them into fiscal responsibility. If it had been practiced all along, the country would be in a better position to weather the effects of the recession.
Jim, term limits exist in name only and Burch has said that and IB agrees. the rules are more honoured in the breach than in the observance there. someone has to explain what a 2% payroll tax increase means to an industry that saves $25billion in taxes by being in Bermuda.Our reluctance to fire people except under the cover of a recessions is what has bred poor service from top to bottom. banks, utilities, retail, everywhere. people are rude, they don’t answer promptly and the reluctance to use technology is ridiculous.
Stay tuned.