Coronavirus: Invercargill Licensing Trust make 87 staff redundant
Monday, 25 May 2020
The Invercargill Licensing Trust has made 87 of its 606 staff redundant in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the immense pressure it has put on the hospitality and tourism industries.
Trust chief executive Chris Ramsay said the job losses were mostly accommodation and function staff and the redundancies were equivalent to 48 full-time positions.
The trust operates 25 hospitality businesses in Invercargill and gives millions of dollars in profits back to the community each year.
Wednesday will mark nine weeks since Alert Level 4 began; restaurants resumed seating people on May 14, but groups with a 10 person maximum, while bars had to wait until May 21.
**READ MORE:
* Government wage subsidy extension no silver bullet for ILT
* ILT faces 'heart breaking' prospect of staff layoffs
* Coronavirus: ILT bottle store sales at record levels
**
Some in hospitality criticised this year's budget for lack of financial support for the industry, and some in tourism said the Government extending the wage subsidy only delayed job losses.
Ramsay said The Ascot Park Hotel and Kelvin Hotel were the biggest hit by the redundancies, as forward bookings for 2020 were terrible.
The decision was effective immediately, staff had been given four weeks notice and would be paid at 100 per cent of pre-Covid-19 wages, Ramsay said.
'No one ever wants to make those sorts of phone calls, just as much as no one ever wants to receive that type of phone call.
'It was a challenging and awful day for all parties involved,' he said.
Borders were still closed to international tourists and domestic flights have been largely reduced.
Ramsay said getting flight schedules back to pre-pandemic levels was important for the trust and the region as a whole, he said.
'It's not a decision we've taken lightly, but we've had to make the decision because our forward bookings are terrible, to say the least.'
The trust took steps at the start of lockdown which saved jobs, he said.
'The unfortunate part is we just haven't been able to save everyone at this point,' Ramsay said.
'It is the sorry and sad reality of what's happening.'
Even if staff were kept on until the wage subsidy finished, there was 'nowhere near enough' work to justify maintaining every role, he said.
Some staff were moved to different roles and there was a chance of staff being re-hired, he said.
'Once business picks up our would be to get people back on board as quickly as possible, and we sincerely hope that happens sooner rather than later.'
'When we look at our calendar for conferencing and events, it's the skinniest it's been in decades.'
'We're really not immune, as much as we'd love to be, from the economic challenges that Covid-19's created.'
Managers of both the Ascot Park Hotel and Kelvin Hotel referred all questions to the trust.
Trust president Alan Dennis said it was not a good time to be in hospitality.
He said management had done well to keep redundancies down to about 10 per cent of full-time equivalency.
Trust bottle stores operating had provided a 'small glimmer', Dennis said.
The board looked at every possibility, however the trust had 26 hospitality businesses and the 'income tap' had been turned off, he said.
The vast majority of the trust's businesses had been unable to operate since lockdown began in late March.
The trust had been focused from the outset on protecting its staff, including initiating pay cuts across its executive team and board indefinitely, Ramsay said.