BTA: Temporary Salary & Workweek Reductions
The BTA is cutting spending across divisions and instituting temporary salary and workweek reductions; with employees taking a workweek reduction of one or two days with corresponding pay decreases, while C-suite executives will maintain their full workweek while having their salary cut.
A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] is taking steps to counter the adverse financial impacts of COVID-19, including cutting spending across divisions and instituting temporary salary and workweek reductions.
“Among cost-saving measures, the BTA Board will forego 20 percent of its 2020 stipend and BTA employees across all levels of the organisation in both New York and Bermuda offices have agreed to workweek reductions of one or two days, with corresponding pay decreases.
“C-suite executives will maintain their full workweek schedule, despite also having salary cutbacks. The moves preserve cash yet maintain the level of business continuity needed to put tourism at the forefront of Bermuda’s economic revival when the crisis subsides.
“We don’t yet know when the tourism recovery will begin, but it’s critical the Board prepares the organisation to play a leading role in getting Bermuda back on track,” said BTA Chairman Paul Telford, adding staffing adjustments will be reviewed as the crisis unfolds.
“Implementing shared sacrifice at every level allows the Bermuda Tourism Authority to retain high-performing talent and business continuity in lieu of layoffs.
“Marketing Bermuda is the BTA’s core mission,” Mr Telford added. “We must save as much cash as possible now so we’re ready to robustly sell and market our destination when the time comes to rally again.”
The BTA added, “Bermuda’s destination marketing organisation continues to monitor the fallout from COVID-19’s commercial airlift and cruise schedule shutdowns, with resulting visitor cancellations.
“Data for March indicates a 70-percent drop in air visitors for the month, and, since the crisis began, direct spending losses for the local economy have risen to more than $58 million when air and cruise visitor estimates are combined through April 14.
“The latest data on COVID-19’s tourism impact was shared with stakeholders during an Industry Resilience Roundtable on April 2.”
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And so it starts
As it should. Govt and CS need to step up and do the same.
NOW!
BTA Salaries
http://bernews.com/2018/02/tourism-authority-release-new-financial-data/
DEAR BTA,
so lemme get this right? y’all reducing staff salaries by cutting down their days to which some are already struggling to make ends meet which I understand some to be almost half their salaries……Mean while your board and c-suite only take a 20% reduction in pay? I’m sorry what did the chief of marketing make again…? $320,000 with a yearly incentive(bonus) of $90,000-95,000 which equates to $400k. 20% of $400k is $80k so they still taking home their complete salary!!!! That is utter BS!! so DO NOT give me the nonsense about shared sacrifice. In fact the sacrifice is anything but shared. the back bone of the company is and has always been the workers. They make the managers look real good! Has Government even reduced the $26 million they give the BTA annually? Probably not right? yet this article dresses it up as “look at us(theBTA), we are doing a good thing here by getting ahead of the situation and planning for the bounce back tourism by reducing our lower income staff to half their wages.”And you call that shared? its sickening!!! so my good tax paying dollars are being spent on Board members and c-suites to keep their pockets lined while their staff suffer financially? Wake up Bermuda and take a look at this. Will we stand around and watch your neighbour, sister brother,mother, father go hungry? SPEAK UP and let your voices be heard!!!
MP salaries?
MPs are hard at work! Try starting with the Opposition layoffs first!
Opposition are MP’s too, so would take the same reduction in salary.
Bear in mind, if you sign up for this, run for Parliament and are elected into office, this is your job. You don’t get extra or plaudits for doing what you are supposed to be doing.
MPs should most definitely be offering to take a cut – disappointing they have not as yet
I would venture to say though BTA has a critical role right now to prepare
an incredible marketing plan to get Tourism back up and running and exploding – put the right agencies and supports in place NOW so cutting back this agency in my view is not sensible, reduced work week for some OK
Why is Wedco not taking a cut??
All they are doing is forcing tenants with no revenue to pay rent – did they not see the memo about no ships THIS ENTIRE SUMMER? SMH
Civil (use that word lightly) Service??
DEAR BTA,
so lemme get this right? y’all reducing staff salaries by cutting down their days to which some are already struggling to make ends meet which I understand some to be almost half their salaries……Mean while your board and c-suite only take a 20% reduction in pay? I’m sorry what did the chief of marketing make again…? $320,000 with a yearly incentive(bonus) of $90,000-95,000 which equates to $400k. 20% of $400k is $80k so they still taking home their complete salary!!!! That is utter BS!! so DO NOT give me the nonsense about shared sacrifice. In fact the sacrifice is anything but shared. the back bone of the company is and has always been the workers. They make the managers look real good! Has Government even reduced the $26 million they give the BTA annually? Probably not right? yet this article dresses it up as “look at us(theBTA), we are doing a good thing here by getting ahead of the situation and planning for the bounce back tourism by reducing our lower income staff to half their wages.”And you call that shared? its sickening!!! so my good tax paying dollars are being spent on Board members and c-suites to keep their pockets lined while their staff suffer financially? Wake up Bermuda and take a look at this. Will we stand around and watch your neighbour, sister brother,mother, father go hungry? SPEAK UP and let your voices be heard!!! and just incase y’all forgot here’s the link to the 2016 finances and salaries of the BTA.
http://bernews.com/2018/02/tourism-authority-release-new-financial-data/
According to this 2016 report the wages of the BTA lowest paid employee to a senior manager is 55k-100k
a 40% cost reduction in salaries takes that number to $33k-60k. Now u tell me how can anyone survive in Bermuda off of $33,000 annually? Shared sacrifice means sharing the burden which clearly the board and c-suite isn’t doing!!!!
WOW, Teleford and others are giving up 20% of their stipend that is an insult to all. Who are the C-suite executives? Bet C-suite execs are only giving up 1 days pay. More proof BTA should be shuttered.
A great example set by the BTA. A 20% cut is a meaningful reduction in expense. Any chance of other Government departments following the example?
Nahhh….Not a chance. Not till there is no choice & an even higher cut will be required.
What about MP’s salaries,they do a job,and they get paid,right now they should be paid double.
sorry they are Bermudians just like you and me and unless you work for the government you have already been laid off or had your salary cut. we are all in this and must all give up a little for all and for our future
o wow!!! so i see they made clear mention of what percentage the c-suits salary will be reduced by, which is 20%
of an already exorbitant salary but not so clear what the rest of staff is down by. If i were to do the math that comes to about 40% may be even 50%. i dont kno about you but i dont see how this fair or equal sacrifice considering every one outside of the c-suite at the Bta makes so much less. This also seems very drastic so early in the crisis when things are already so hard on so many families. This could have been handled way better. Shame on the decision-makers for this one, you dropped the ball big time.
So much love for the BTA from the mouth breathers. They just hate it was de-politicised, hate it, and they hate that it’s been largely successful, but what they really hate, is that it was an OBA initiative. They are so unbelievably Trumpian in this regard that they’d tear it down just to “stick it to the OBA.”
Utter wankers. Put a sock in it.
Do you really want to put Tourism in the hands of the idiots that couldn’t renovate a school on budget on time, couldn’t manage a golf course renovation on budget or build a cruise ship dock on budget. The same idiots that couldn’t collect the trash or took 14 years to come up with a bus schedule? But worse, the same bunch of idiots that destroyed an island economy that has no capability to weather this latest storm.