Offshore layoffs unnecessary

| 03/04/2020 | 26 Comments

(CNS): Financial and legal firms in the Cayman Islands offshore sector are in general working remotely and carrying on doing business in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic. But while many put in place business continuity plans, some firms are already laying local support staff off, which some say is unnecessary.

With major law firms releasing circulars indicating that they are open for business, experts tell CNS that the sector is rolling along, billing clients and has no need to put people out of work.

At least one well-known law firm is understood to have laid off several support staff, including Caymanians, but has retained all of its lawyers. But one local offshore industry professional, who asked to remain anonymous, told CNS there is still a considerable amount of work available for the Cayman Islands, as a leading financial service centre, even in the face of this pandemic.

He said it seems both unjust and unnecessary for companies that made a significant profit over the last year and still have the opportunity to bill clients, when so many other businesses in other sectors are facing bankruptcy, to lay off employees who helped them to generate those profits.

Premier Alden McLaughlin offered up his thanks for this industry earlier this week, saying that although there had been some slow down in work, the financial sector was still moving. He said he planned a Zoom video conference with key players shortly to get a better picture for the medium-term from the key industry players.

At the beginning of this week CNS reached out to the financial services ministry, Cayman Finance and firms we understand may have cut staff, but no one has responded to any of our requests for comment. The Chamber of Commerce has said that the financial industry should be relatively unaffected in the short-term, but will begin to suffer a loss of clients from the decline in markets and the global macro-economy.

Others, however, have a different view. Our anonymous expert, who has worked in the sector for decades, explained that in good times or bad for the world economy, money moves and when it does it requires the involvement of law firms and financial service providers.

Government has undertaken a number of measures to help the financial services industry to at least address administrative challenges during the pandemic.

In a press release from the financial service ministry following a virtual meeting on Tuesday, officials said the deadline for industry feedback on ongoing consultations had been extended. Annual fees, filing deadlines and the need to file Economic Substance Notification have also all been extended.

Financial Services Minister Tara Rivers said the government appreciates how important the financial services sector is to the Cayman Islands and the meeting was to hear feedback or concerns.

“This regular dialogue, which is in keeping with the ministry’s programme of quarterly industry updates, will help to assist the government with our short-, medium-, and long-term planning in the face of this pandemic,” she said, promising to work together to support the local financial services industry, which employs thousands of Caymanians.

Rivers stressed the need to maintain clients’ confidence, to attract new business, and to ensure that the Cayman Islands continues to be a leading global financial centre” during these unprecedented times and well into the future.


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Category: Business, Financial Services, Jobs, Local News

Comments (26)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    “it seems both unjust and unnecessary for companies that made a significant profit over the last year and still have the opportunity to bill clients … to lay off employees who helped them to generate those profits” SO TRUE!!!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps it would be a good plan to have the finance minister on the daily update panel rather then the health minister saying poems and discussing her department. Or better yet, have him speak about health rather then every other gibberish he speaks of

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Alden can’t hear so the people have to feel.
    When should we be expecting the announcement about the MLA pay cuts?

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    • Anonymous says:

      What about civil servants sent home and unable to work from home ? On full pay. Or those MLAs who are doing precisely nothing at the moment. On full pay, plus an exemption so they are not even subject to curfew. Why shouldn’t they be asked to use their vacation and sick leave, or take a pay cut, like the private sector tax payers who pay for it all. Then we would be in the same boat., and I may be a little more receptive to hearing the Premier say that safety comes before protecting the economy, instead of acting like other governments who are taking measures to relieve the economic hardship in parallel with lock down. Easy to think you can put that off to another day when your pay check is guaranteed.

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      • Anonymous says:

        – Financial considerations is not a priority
        – inability to work
        – layoffs and
        – inability to pay one’s bills:

        Doesn’t apply to MLA’s and government employees, it only applies to you.

  4. Anon says:

    When the Government financial tsunami arrives, they had better be prepared to trim numbers in our once again bloated Civil Service and trim the salaries of those remaining, they will have no alternative. Many in the private sector have suffered, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Like the rollover right? It’s never a level playing field.

    • Anonymous says:

      Anon. try and get a life and leave our civil service alone. These are the same people keeping you safe tonight. How ungrateful.

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  5. Kim says:

    How your so-called expert can claim to speak with authority regarding private businesses is baffling. He knows nothing about them. A truly successful business looks to the long term and acts accordingly, making the hard decisions, to ensure its future survival.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    who has the right to tell a private business when they can or can’t let people go????
    even in the best of times they could shut-up shop overnight for a variety of reasons.
    wake up cayman…..our leaders are sleepwaking the entire community(except civil service) into an economic meltdown….
    do they care?……alden keeps saying his plan soon come…..zzzzzzzzzzzzz

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  7. Anon says:

    If your staff are working from home why employ office cleaners or office maintenance staff. Companies that supply office supplies such as coffee and other incidentals are no longer needed. Offices normal run their A/C at just about sub zero (anyone who had to queue at customs before they went online can tell you) can now save a fortune with CUC, So the knock on effects will continue. Has anyone in government thought this through? Of course not they are all jumping of the media driven panic bandwagon.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    I am not going to say that layoffs will not eventually be necessary if things continue as they are today. However, any business that has already terminated some or all of their employees was clearly not in good shape prior to the arrival of COVID-19. This is the reason why businesses that employ more than 3 people need to be required to file annual audited financial with the government. This would allow the government to better understand and plan for the systemic risks.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You wish. Do you know how much an audit costs?

      It is really depressing to read comments like 4:38. Coronavirus seems to have turned many into ill-wishing people.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Government plan?? Pardon me while I catch my breath after that laugh. They failed to plan for an event that many disease experts have been warning about for ages, a serious global pandemic. Thanks for the amusement.

  9. Anonymous says:

    What they need an Office Manager for? The layoffs will continue until Alden starts to listen.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    As an employer for over 40 years I have found that shakeups in the flow of business can have the benefit of forcing layoffs with the result being the reduced staff still gets all the work done. Just sayin.:)

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Eventually Alden will get the message.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    Aldart’s liberal immigration policies have made all sectors feel immune to laws and regulations. Continue to expect absolutely no protection from this weak and selfishly conflicted leader.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Twaddle. I disagree with a bunch of things he’s done/tried to do. But weak he ain’t, and his obviously doing everything he can for the good of the country right now. Drain off that bile, dude, you’re drowning in it,.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    The government realizes that when it removes any requirement to file, that all the people whose job it is to file, are redundant? There is simply no work for them to do. Of course employers who can should continue to pay, but for how long?

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    • Anonymous says:

      How about when he expects us to work from home but doesn’t allow our IT people to go into the office to keep the systems running that we need to work from home?

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      • Anonymous says:

        How about when businesses had ample warning of what was coming, and did not prepare?

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      • Anonymous says:

        2:34 stop talking absolute rubbish . Bad boy what you gonna do when he comes for you!

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      • Anonymous says:

        To ignorant to prepare? Did you ignore the advice of your IT people when they asked for $ and backing to prepare for the unexpected?

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