Boy in capitalism the business always wins. So after the laws were basically changed to protect the hotels so that for more than a year they never made the employees they had on reduced pay redundant so that the hotel would not have to pay them out. They now turn around, as we are told tourism numbers are increasing, and make 700 people redundant.

Or they held out hope that things would get back to normal and they wouldn't have to let anyone go and have now realized that won't be happening for a long time so have let the people go.

Exactly. More emergency orders, less water park.

Hummm Atlantis has been losing tens of millions of dollars for over a year now. Not sure how this is a win...

Well who didn't see this coming? A business will act in the best interest of the business, it's up to the employee to save their salary and invest it wisely so that they can weather these kinds of events. At the end of the day it's just a job, it's not supposed to be forever.

People dont need jobs, they just need to wear their masks. 15 days to slow the spread, it's really that simple.

Most businesses have cut well over 10% of their staff in the last year - probably closer to 50% on average. Although 700 jobs is a big number to swallow, especially in the size economy we have, as a percentage it's not bad.

I love you dearly Bahamas. But you will not get the blessings of The FATHER if it is the case that you have thrown out HIS Children; instead, you will inherit hardships like you are experiencing now. Why would He bless this House, that is, Our Country when the government and its agencies continue to alienate, ostracize, and persecute the faithful of The LORD who, for all intent and purposes, are the very inheritors of this Country? My father, Joseph McBain Johnson, was one of the few recruits who enlisted and went off to fight in World War I, yet, I am treated like a bastard.

It is not a matter of "God being mad" to any degree with the planet, it is a matter of us as a country, led by sober and righteous leaders, being in a strategic position so as to be able to navigate and weather the storm of the Coronavirus; similar to Noah being singled out from the rest of the people in his day. Wisdom cannot be destroyed, however, many are denied its access.

We are getting the experience we deserve because we voted in the leaders that are there. Hence, what we are experiencing, is to the extent of their ability to lead. A leader can only take you as far as they themselves have gone.

Which leader was "right with god" in you estimation? Trying to understand by which measure do you hold a true leader at.

The curse of Minnis is upon us, and the worst is yet to come.

What a horrible mess they have created. This renewing of dictatorial powers seems to have broken at least one more camel's back. Can't we lay off Minnis and his minions?

I feel your pain Nick but BTC is calling your name.

well, I hope you already sent the email before posting this. Now , every employee is scared to open his /her email.

I expect they will cut the unvaccinated first. Bahamas get vaccinated, it is the only way out of this crisis.

lol no thanks

Some in big pharma are now saying you might need a much more costly booster or two every 6 months or so. You had better get your order in while you still can. lol

One FNM Hubert created Atlantis as another Hubert destroy it. A horrible sign, till November 2021,then till may 2022 to follow. Any child could read that script, Atlantis' big boys also.

Is it turning out to be **BIG MISTAKE** to have a **traveling** medical doctor as the realm's prime minister - who has been **mixing up** the top-heavy portfolios for all and important things and matters to do with finance and COVID clinical, which is being directly **conceived and run** right out of and from the **politically toxic propaganda** section within the walls of the office of the prime minister (PTSOPM), yes?

Exactly! As if shedding 10% of their workforce constitutes the breaking of the camel's back...and as if the renewal of the emergency orders, rather than the ongoing pandemic, had anything to do with it. As you say, you can't fight stupid.

Minnis becoming PM back in May 2017 was the straw that broke the camel's back.

ATLANTIS and many hotel properties, not only here but around the world, adopted a policy years ago where they regenerate their staff by terminating the older staff and bringing in new faces. The hotel industry is no longer one where you can retire in being a good bartender or waitress. Marketing data indicates that hotel guests want to see young and energetic faces and hotels comply to remain competitive. So they made 750 redundant today and gradually bring in new workers. A similar situation occurs in most of the retail stores around the country. But workers are hired on two, three or four year contracts. When their contracts expire they may be given the option to renew if their employment was favorable, but they must sign up as a new worker. So they are not entitled to long term benefits or other benefits.

This would make sense, if the labor cases by the Tribunal have not been in favor of employees who were essentially denied permanent status through contracts.

It makes sense because the cases in which the Tribunal rules is an infinite amount compared to the number of people being terminated from their jobs

I have in my possession at least 5 judgements where in which the tribunal did not agree that renewing a contract made an employee "non-permanent" and termination pay had to be calculated in a permanent measurement and not on the contractual basis. So, unless you have other information, you may be assuming.

Pretty simple.........with long term decreases in revenue, the entity must eventually make adjustments to remain solvent. Workforce restructuring is at the top of the list for an organization of this size. It is nothing personnel, just business.

When faced with a similar situation in own lives, every single one of us would eventually have to make changes that we would ordinarily prefer not to make.

**No shortage anti-government and business arguments, full conspiracies** is forthcoming but rare to be treated to how to work at rebuilding **improved, restructured tourism offering** over the **3-5 years heavy lifting recovery** will take, yes?

Wrong. Many have commented ad nauseam on this website about what they believe could and should be done to address the bigger issues facing our country today. You just happen to not be one of them. But your more subtle pro Minnis, pro FNM bias has not gone unnoticed by most of us.

**Right!!** After COVID's curfews and business shutdowns began, now into its second year, the **PopoulacesCommeners'** has grown weary of **the same repeated misleads** and are left feeling like the **officials in charge have no real grip** as to how to respond to changing of lifestyles, times, yes?

This is EXACTLY the result of more emergency orders instead of reopening the country to tourism. Make people sign up for a health visa, go get your test, upload the COVID test, pay for your health visa, wait on edge and hope you get your health visa in time, fly to the Bahamas, and on day 5 go get in line for yet another COVID test to get back into the U.S. And you wonder why tourist aren’t coming to the Bahamas?? I’ll tell you why.....it’s NOT worth it, it’s a total pain in the ass, and people don’t need to come to the Bahamas that badly!!! So keep requiring all this boo-sh-t, and see how fast tourism numbers rise. Trust me - there are more layoffs to come. You all ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!! Government at its finest!!!

Man, you sure are either ignorant or a blind die-hard supporter of Minnis no matter what. I'm inclined to believe you're the latter.

Florida right next door to us is still in the midst of an incredible bonanza tourism period that started last summer and may well go on for the next few years as they continue to eat our breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

And it seems you're conveniently oblivious to the fact that several countries in the Caribbean like the Dominican Republic are also now seeing tourists in great numbers. You really need to pull that head of yours out of your _ _ _ !

*Florida right next door to us is still in the midst of an incredible bonanza tourism period that started last summer*

According to Visit Florida, the number of tourists visiting Florida was down 60% in the 2nd quarter of 2020, down 33% in 3rd quarter and down 33% in 4th quarter. The number of Canadian visitors for the whole of 2020 was down by 65%..
For the 1st quarter of this year the number of overseas visitors to Florida was down 75%, and the number of Canadian visitors was down 97%. Personally, I wouldn't exactly call that a tourist bonanza.
Since you like to tell others how they conveniently like to ignore facts, might I suggest you practice what you preach.

Brookfield's bean counters have no doubt been told to sharpen their pencils and model cash flows, etc. under a worse case scenario where all but one or two of Atlantis's main hotel buildings are shutdown and at least two-thirds of its existing staff complement are laid-off by the end of this year at the latest.

It's no secret that Brookfield had been trying to off-load its entire Atlantis resort property for quite a few years before the Wuhan Virus came along, but those efforts did not meet with any great success beyond the sale of the Ocean Club and Hurricane Hole properties. The cash bleed out rate must now be such that more desperate measures need to be carefully considered.

And let's face it, what Minnis and D'Aguilar have done to make the Wuhan Virus so much more worse for our economy than it should have been does not exactly instill Brookfield's partners and managing directors with any great degree of confidence that the Bahamas will be seeing large numbers of tourists anytime in the foreseeable future.

> And let's face it, what Minnis and
> D'Aguilar have done to make the Wuhan
> Virus so much more worse for our
> economy than it should have been does
> not exactly instill Brookfield's
> partners and managing directors with
> any great degree of confidence that
> the Bahamas will be seeing large
> numbers of tourists anytime in the
> foreseeable future. Upvote0

You started to make sense until you posted this crap. EVERYONE knows this corona virus are beyond the confines of Wu Haun. It is global. Whether man made or natural. And this virus was in The Bahamas before or around the same time it surfaced in China. Doctors were seeing patients with this ‘strange flu’ but they had no identity for it.

I will leave it for you to explain, if you so wish, why the economy of the Bahamas has fared so badly during the Wuhan Virus compared to many other tourism dependent states/nations in our region of the world, e.g. Florida, Dominican Republic, etc.

One of the main reasons the economy is so bad is because we have so few visitors. With all the difficult entry rules and the hassles to obtain a Health Visa people are travelling elsewhere where it is far easier to enter. There have been many complaints but the Tourism Minister refuses to ease up on the harsh rules. Soon we will not have an economy .