Join our community of smart investors
OPINION

Degrees of nastiness

Degrees of nastiness
April 7, 2022
Degrees of nastiness

You couldn’t make it up if you tried. First, recall the behaviour of the bosses of P&O Ferries, who last month sacked 800 staff, many via a pre-recorded Zoom call. P&O was probably in breach of UK employment law and certainly in breach of decency. You’ll remember it. The boss of the firm, Peter Hebblethwaite, was asked by a House of Commons committee if he was a “shameless criminal” and told by a Scottish Parliament committee that he was the most hated man in Britain.

Now go to the 2021 annual report of P&O’s parent, DP World. There, you can find the Dubai-based company soothingly explain that “we have a duty of care for the welfare of our employees and would like to ensure that their wellbeing is prioritised in all aspects of their work and life”. Surely as unequivocal proof, the report adds that during 2021 P&O Ferries “hosted bespoke sessions (for employees) on several physical and mental health topics like mindfulness, depression, burn-out and suicide awareness”.

Doubtless, it was a mark of the success of these sessions that Hebblethwaite and his pals running P&O Ferries felt it was okay to do away with the niceties of a redundancy programme for the affected workers, such as consultation periods. “No problem, Pete,” said the HR director. “Those boys and girls have done the sessions. They’re overloaded with mindfulness. They’ll know how to cope. You just get on with the Zoom recording. I’ll do the text messages.”

This is subscriber only content
Start your trial to keep reading
PRINT AND DIGITAL trial

Get 12 weeks for £12
  • Essential access to the website and app
  • Magazine delivered every week
  • Investment ideas, tools and analysis
Have an account? Sign in