P&O Ferries sparks outrage by sacking 800 workers on a Zoom Call!
In this solo commentary, the speaker critiques the media backlash against P&O Ferries for terminating 800 employees through a pre‑recorded Zoom announcement. He argues that the company's £100 million pandemic‑induced losses and lack of sufficient government aid justify swift, direct redundancies, and that the method of delivery (Zoom) is less important than the economic reality. Drawing on his own experience of making staff redundant during COVID, he contends that a brief, clear communication can be kinder than a softened, drawn‑out approach. He also highlights broader issues: the government's limited fiscal support (tax rates, business rates, NI contributions, limited furlough and loan relief), the legal requirement that redundancies replace roles with different, lower‑cost staff, and the media’s focus on the “callous” delivery rather than systemic factors. Throughout, he invites viewers to discuss the ethics of mass layoffs, the role of lockdown policy, and accountability of both corporations and the government.
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So 800 people have just been fired on a Zoom call. Now I have a different thought process to this. They're being slammed on the media, P&O Ferries. It's P&O Ferries, a travel company, who've just fired 800 people on a Zoom and they're getting slammed on the media. Uh, now look, firing, um, is is never easy. A lot of people think it should be done softly and warmly, etc. I've had to fire enough people in my career, and often just being straight to the point and matter-of-fact can be kinder. Now, what happened here was, um, P&O were losing more than £100 million. So what are they expected to do? They're losing £100 million. What are they expected to do? Um, now, in a virtual speech A company chief told workers their contracts were terminated immediately following losses of more than £100 million. Now, what's interesting is all over the media I'm seeing P&O Ferries getting slammed for firing 800 people on a Zoom. Don't see anyone saying, well, what are the government doing to help them, and why are they having to fire 800? Well, make redundant 500 people, 800 people. I wonder if it's anything to do with the fact that it's been really hard to trade for 2 years. Wonder if it's, um, anything to do with the fact that the government aren't supporting or subsidizing businesses enough through these difficult times. Now I know some people are going to think this is unfair and wrong. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments, but not sure whatever other choice they have, like I had to let 15 staff, 16 staff go at the start of COVID uh, and I hated every minute of it. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But, um, as it turns out, furlough came in and we managed to bring many of those back in. But we had to make overhead cuts. Had we not made any overhead cuts, then the whole ship could have gone down, pardon the pun. So apparently this was a pre-recorded video. My thoughts on that are that's a bit wimpy. Do it live, answer the questions in the comments as much as you can, at least give the staff a bit of time. Um, and so to do it as a pre-record, yeah, I probably would say it's more, um, that's a, that's a bit weak. Um, however, um, so the P&O— but basically someone has just said what happened. So, um, P&O Ferries have just made redundant— fired— 800 people on a Zoom. They did a pre-record this morning, uh, and I'll quote: The company has made the decision that its vessels going forward will be primarily crewed by a third-party crew provider. Therefore, I'm sorry to inform you that this means your employment is terminated with immediate effect on the grounds of redundancy. Your final day of employment is today. Now, I hope they got good legal advice on redundancy. Um, they'll have— if they're making redundancies, they'll obviously have to pay them. Janina said there it's very heartless. Now, this is one of the reasons why I did this live. I know a lot of people are going to think this is callous and cruel. Um, I remember that someone did this, um, in lockdown. They fired, I think, 1,200 people on a Zoom, and a lot of people The media went wild on them and hated on them and said it was callous and heartless. But I don't know how they could do it face-to-face. That would be too expensive, costly, and timely. So I think it kind of would have to be done on a Zoom. And if you fluff it up too much, it's not clear and it can, you know, it can drag out and you can second-guess your decision and it can be even more emotional for people. And often the best thing to do is just say, to say, I'm sorry, I have bad news, there's no easy way to say this, but I'm going to have to let you all go. We're losing £100 million a year, the government aren't supporting us, it's been a hard 2 years, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to make you redundant and your last day is today. I actually don't think that there's too much wrong with that. You, you try and do it. Um, what pisses me off more is that an otherwise profitable company, a company that's necessary and required in the, um, in the travel industry, is having to cut so many jobs. Um, it's not just the people in the jobs that are losing. Of course it's them, and I feel sorry for them, but it's also the firm itself, a big travel firm. Um, and this has been caused because of lockdown. Now, I don't know what your thoughts are on whether we should have or shouldn't have been locked down now that we're out of this and we can look back retrospectively. Um, but you know That's why it happened. And how are the government helping here? The government aren't getting any criticism. All the media that I've seen: 'Video nasty, shocking moment P&O Ferries fires all 800 crew by video.' Well, it was actually being made redundant. 'This is the brutal moment bosses sacked 800 P&O Ferries staff.' No one's saying, 'This is the brutal moment another company went under because the government didn't support them properly.' I bet their taxes are still corporation tax, 19-25%. I bet the income tax is crazy. I bet they didn't relieve them of their business rates, of their National Insurance contributions that they had to pay. I bet they didn't give them, you know, more loans and extend furlough. They didn't do anything to help. Like, as in typical frickin' fashion, something happens, the government are sort of slightly put to the test by the media. And then, oh, some more bad news comes in and it's all disappeared. Like what happened to the Gray Report? What happened to the accountability of the Prime Minister for all the parties they had while we were all in lockdown? And someone said to me, oh, look, it doesn't really matter if they had a party every now and again. No, it doesn't really matter, except our businesses were shut down and it was illegal to trade, and many, many people's businesses went under, and now 800 people have lost their job, which to me, I don't think it's P&O's fault. Um, Jenny has said before we had Zoom, they would have had to have been told face to face, so it could have been done face to face. Would it make— would it have made it any better though? And now you can use Zoom. Zoom is a replacement. We're all— we could all network, but we're here on a Facebook Live. Look, is it cold? Yeah. Is it nice? No. Is it easy? No. Do many people who are judging them— could they have done it better? They probably wouldn't have. I think a pre-recorded video— I, I, if it were me, I wouldn't have done a pre-record video. I would have given more than a few minutes, but I would have been direct and to the point and very clear and, and no room for, um, you know, any feeling that this isn't absolute and definite and final. Um, it looks like they didn't blame the government. Um, so P&O said its survival was dependent on making swift and significant changes now. In a statement, it confirmed its services will not operate for the next few days, with passengers told to use other companies. So let me know what you think in the comments. I wonder if you might share this and we might discuss this with many people. I think it's actually a really good thing to discuss. Because P&O are going to get a load of shit because they fired 800 people on a Zoom, and once again the government are going to get away with it. How many people are going to blame the government for this? Well, the government caused the lockdowns, and maybe lockdown 1.0, I don't know, going back, would we do lockdown 1.0 again? Let me know. But definitely not 2.0, and, you know, soft or Um, it's not a lockdown. This is not a lockdown, lockdown 3.0 that happened in December just gone. Um, and many people who are going to be judging this aren't business owners, don't know what it's like to let people go. And, um, the workers suffer, the employment suffer. Um, and yeah, a lot of people in the comments are saying here it's really inhumane to do this. But, but what are you going to do, drive to all their houses and do it one-to-one? Write a letter? Are you going to get them all to come to some headquarters, get them all to travel this way just to tell them that they're being made redundant and then send them back? So whilst it isn't nice— exactly, I agree with Michelle, it's sad for both sides, and most people aren't going to do what I'm doing here and and show the side of P&O and show the side of the per— I mean, how does the person feel that's had to let all 800 people go? I bet they're having sleepless nights. And like I said, I've had to let people go, whether it's firing or redundancy. And if you soften it up or start talking it round, you end up fluffing it and distracting it and making it unclear. It's best just to say it, be brief, be clear, and let them go. So yeah, they're my thoughts. What are your thoughts? And, um, once again, the government will get away with it, won't they? Because the economy, the taxes are way up, inflation is way up. So corporation tax is going from 19% to 25%, income tax is 45%, National Insurance went up by 12.5%, business rates are still there, the employer and the employee pay, um, National Insurance. There's all sorts of other tax stealth taxes and subsidies or hidden costs and business rates that we have to pay. You know, you have to pay all these insurances and you have to sign up to these regulatory bodies every year, which are all essentially taxes. And how many of them got reduced? Well, okay, there was furlough. None of those taxes got reduced. There was a small amount of support from the government in terms of You know, some small loans, although £5 billion of those loans they've had to write off. So really, much of those loans they loaned to the wrong people who didn't need them, who scammed the system, and the businesses and the small business owners that needed them didn't get them. They wasted £11 billion on PPE because the PPE had to be written off as well. £11 billion's worth, I believe, that they spent, overspent billions anyway. And then of course all the money they spent on the track and trace app that pretty much didn't work. So— and yet everyone's going to be hating on the poor chap that had to fire 800 people or make redundant 800 people on the Zoom. And P&O Ferries are losing half, £100 million a year. So once again, oh, oh, the news just sort of disguises what's really going on. What? Let me ask you once again. Do you know the result of the Gray Report? What happened to this investigation into Boris and, um, you know, for all these parties in lockdown? Well, then a war comes along and everyone's forgotten about it. But there's been like 3 or 4 instances where there's been scandals in government and then more bad news has just come to sort of paper over the cracks. It's not right. Anyway, let me know what you think. Hit the share button. The news is that 800 people have been fired on a Zoom by a boss of P&O Ferries who are losing £100 million a year, and they're getting lambasted in the media for it. And I don't know that they've done anything really that wrong, and I wanted to put another side across. And it's not nice no matter what way it's done, and I think you're better doing it swiftly because actually that can be a more kind thing than dragging it out, and at least it's very clear. And no one seems to be talking about the fact that P&O are losing £100 million because of lockdowns and lack of government support, and how many more small and medium and big businesses are going to go under because so many went under through COVID and had to shut and didn't reopen. But I said this will be carrying on for years, and it'll be carrying on for years. So why are taxes still so high? Why isn't there ongoing support? Why are companies who are trying to stay alive getting the brutality of media? Why are the government not being held to account? Let me know what you think in the comments. Hit the share button. Thanks for following my work. Someone has said if they replace them, it's not right. Well, obviously they're replacing them with a lower cost base. Um, they've been made redundant, which, um, legally that means— that has to mean that their roles aren't required anymore, and they can't be replaced like for like. They have to be replaced with different, otherwise it would be an, um, an, uh, against employment law redundancy. Thanks for tuning in. Hit the share button, let me know what you think in the comments. This one's going to be big all over the media, and P&O are going to get beasted for it. And I'm there just to put another side across, because if you don't risk anything, you risk everything.
