Redundancies- would you take it
 

If and when the inevitable happens, should senior A scalers fall on their swords ? Should senior B scalers take the opportunity to leave the company many despise, with a pocket full of cash, and a new life to look forward to ?

Or will it be a case of compulsory layoffs or furlough, from the bottom up? Unlikely, knowing CX.

bottom up, just like any airline worth it's salt.

What?!?! Lay off the cheapest and most vulnerable? No, that is counter cultural to our kind and caring employer. Let’s purge the guys with families, housing in HK, kids in schools, etc. Those are the bad ones. New joiners are good, loyal, hardworking employees. It has very little to do with money you see. CX just just wants to be fair after all. They are newly woke and progressive. Thank God we work for corporate moralists.

I would think an 'early out' package (properly negotiated)--like many other airlines--would be quite attractive to many (self included). IF the company were looking for something to mitigate layoffs (procedures are clearly defined in the COS/CA/EA/CBAs and cannot be modified as such) this is what I'd do if I were them.

By definition, it'd have to be a great deal better than the 6 months and recall rights which is the current layoff/recall protection in many of the contracts.

But the way this place historically has done business renminbi to donuts it'll be screwed up and the standard bait and switch on the cheap kind of deal.

Simple: the most expensive swan goes first.

Last in.. first out..

Maybe Wong should switch to wrong

I can think of several B Scale captains that would jump at a Voluntary Redundancy package if it were offered.

b.

....And a few A scale as well.
I would expect it to be done in two waves.
First the voluntary, to entice as many high paid A/B scalers as possible to POQ.
Then once those numbers are done, a second wave of involuntary layoffs, to meet the target set by the all knowing, always getting it right (out of phase!) bean counters.

Honestly. How many A scale do you think are left ? 10. ? 5 ? It’s in that ballpark. and most who chose to extend to 65 had to come off A scale.
The last round of redundancies was back in 96 ? Maybe 98. And the deal was 6 months. Pitiful. A handful took it.

Glob: Straight off the seniority list it's 140.

I guess some of those might be on COS18, and perhaps most have been/are on a base, so don't have the big provident fund payout left.

Added: I would have thought that in this scenario, there would be no difference to the company in cost between an A and a B scaler. Both are likely to be on COS08, on housing, and getting the P Fund. The top 300 are either topped out on salary scales, or very close. A B scaler who never left HKG might even be more expensive than an A scaler who has been on a base.

Unlikely. If they’re on cos 08, they are no longer A scale. As a condition of signing over COS. I think the only exception would be the AKL base. As a result of the court case there.
And yes they are topped out on salary.

And don’t forget that last in first out is illegal in some of the base countries.

And which country would that be?
As far as I know, that’s the norm in any employment situation...

OK maybe not illegal as such but it can’t be used as a sole criteria. You could of course do you own Google search and educate yourself but I’ve copied and pasted some info below for you.

Reality:

To dismiss someone fairly for redundancy you must adopt a procedure that is fair and reasonable in all circumstances. Part of this involves identifying fair selection criteria to determine those members of staff that you will retain and those you will make redundant.

The starting point is to consider criteria that are largely objective and measurable and do not discriminate against individuals who are protected from discrimination. In the past many employers adopted a policy of making redundant those with the shortest length of service (LIFO) as it was both simple and objective. However, since the enactment of equality and anti-discrimination legislation, LIFO cannot be used as the only measure to decide who is going to lose their jobs in a redundancy situation. This is because younger people are most likely to be selected for redundancy and this amounts to a disadvantage based on age and may give rise to a claim for indirect age discrimination.

Most of the CA’s/CBAs/EAs/COSs have (legal) specific procedures for layoff and recall. These follow the master seniority list which is effectively last in first out.

Oh... I... See... so you get your legal stuff of Google, so it must be correct.
How about educating yourself some manners? perhaps you should google that too.
Employment Law all over the world is more or less similar on Redundancy, with no exception.
You, on the other hand, are mixing apples and oranges.
Discrimination includes all kind of areas, and though one of them IS age, it does not apply in this case because the selection would not rely on age, it is only a pure and simple last in first out.
If you joined as a Direct entry F/O or an S/O then you will be made redundant if you were last in.

For anyone taking voluntary redundancy:
One thing to consider for British employees is that you won't get government housing benefit if your savings (wife/partner included) exceed £16000. So a large chunk of your farewell payment might well go on maintaining your mortgage/rent until something else turns up. The payment itself isn't taxable below £30,000 but nest eggs will go against you. Ask me how I know...

55 year olds are being made redundant at CX every week. A contractual redundancy will not happen as they are conveniently shedding their most experienced/expensive pilots using age discrimination already. Do not ever forget that your Google lawyers don’t have any substantive workplace “law” to use in Hong Kong.

You can bet your bottom dollar that a couple of bright young things with freshly minted MBAs have developed models and war-gamed the various strategies. At its most simplistic, the governing variable will be “someone’s” best guess of how long this Covid19 debacle will go on for. This guess will define how management will play this game out.
You saw how quickly the mainland airlines dispensed with their expat staff. Experience, training and quality counted for nothing. Cost cutting was the sole driver.