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Fred. Olsen axes 70 jobs
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has made a third of its head-office staff redundant, less than a month after purchasing two new cruise ships.
The operator warned in June that it would have to make redundancies. At the time cruise line employed around 220 staff at its head office but a spokeswoman confirmed to the East Anglian Daily Times the number was now closer to 150.
The confirmation of job losses comes less than a month after Fred. Olsen purchased two new ships from Holland America Line, which have been renamed Bolette and Borealis.
The company said the new purchases and the restructuring were not related.
Managing Director Peter Deer said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the cruise industry particularly hard. We still don’t know when we can sail again, with the government still advising against cruising.
"Sadly, this does mean that we have had to streamline our head office operations by around one third.
"We are supporting any of our team members who have been affected by this restructure, including support with CV writing and interview skills."
A spokeswoman for Fred. Olsen added: "The purchase of our two new ships is essential for the future of our business, and will help us to come out of this current situation stronger. These are two separate business decisions."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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