Thread regarding Sabre Holdings layoffs

"Attrition" means "voluntarily quit" by the way. Knowing that might change the way you interpret conversations about "attrition" because if you thought it meant "layoff" then the people talking about "attrition" probably sounded like evil monsters.

Barely 2 months of major reorganisation with a total of 1200 attrition (400 voluntarily left), they are now hiring again.

The C level may care about employees to a certain degree, but the reality is that they will choose to take care of themselves 1st, then the employees 2nd. C level are beholden to the board and stockholders. Meanwhile, the board works with the C level to figure how to get as much as possible for themselves before they are replaced. Very similar to how congress votes to give themselves raises.

the clevel direction for the last four years has only been labor cost reduction. This is a metric that can always get cheaper. The question about attrition was answered four years ago, it was even answered in the "year of the employee" where we had many small unannounced layoffs. They dont care about you. they never have. The only way for that culture to end is thru the end of the current c leadership

If you think the C level Clowns care about attrition you are very naive.

Sabre needs to accomplish 2 slightly incompatible goals concurrently.

1) Reduce costs.

2) Reduce attrition of staff needed for KTLO viability.

The best way to achieve #2 is retention bonuses payable years in the future. That is already done.

The question then is: how to pay for #2?

The best way to pay for #2 is #1.

The easiest variable cost to reduce is labor. Labor costs can be reduced by reinstating pay cuts, furloughs, and RIFs. The attrition of those furloughed reduces costs more than RIFs by avoidance of severance payout costs.

If #1 is done without #2 then too much of the good talent leaves by attrition.

If #2 is done without #1 then costs are unsustainable.

Is this worldwide or targeted locations?

Is that hear say or something that you think will happen?

September or October Sabre will take another round of layoff at least 1000 people.

sounds like a decision that affects 2000 people specifically is a pretty big decision and one that is obviously discriminatory even if it's only discriminatory to 2000 people.

how do you know the poster was a victim? they could have (and probably were at the Sr. Director or Director level) if they were talking to the SVP and VP and they were probably talking about how the effects have to play out to their specific team and they probably weren't affected at all or the SVP and VP wouldn't even have that conversation with them. - Get off your high horse sparky. You don't know who posted that, but I wouldn't discount it either

It will be interesting if Work From Home and Work From Anywhere accelerates offshoring. If people only communicate through videoconferencing, telephone, IM, and email then some will start to wonder if they can replace expensive remote-working US employees with cheap remote-working employees in whatever the current cheapest shore is that has acceptable home internet connections.

The immigration issue will not go away. Its not a defensible reason, alone, to retain employees.

@3tod+16kJxZKn "(at least not in my organization".. so there you go asserting an across the board factoid and then quickly caveat that you dont actually know. well i do know that there were some impacted. maybe bear in mind you dont have all the facts before asserting blanket statements huh?

but that doesnt even matter. the main point is that @3ljj+16kJxZKn victims cry that it was discriminatory is bs. no it wasnt. it was a lousy situation and a bunch of managers had to make tough calls about what was mission critical. it s—ed. and your victimhood is not only pathetic but dead wrong. thats not how decisions were made. so he needs to take off the tinfoil hat.

@3nqy+16kJxZKn
Visa people did not get tagged.. Green Card people got tagged. but not visa holders.
(at least in my 3000 person org - but I'm sure if they got that message, that was the message that went though all the US at least.

My SVP and VP both told me they were told specifically that they could not furlough or cut any visa holders.

@3ljj+16kJxZKn, just cause you feel doesnt make it real. visa people got tagged. managers had to decide what was mission critical. it s—ed, but wasnt "discriminatory" at all.

@3vhe+16kJxZKn
The whole furloughed thing was crud.
No visa people impacted, Not based off of performance. India not included.
The most discriminatory action possible.

No enhanced severance will be offered moving forward - unfortunately! Their goal earlier this year was to be the least impactful to affected employees being furloughed and laid off. Now they realize it's unavoidable. They need to slow down the $147 million monthly cash burn immediately! Bookings are recovering at a slower pace than they anticipated in June when they decided to bring back most of the furloughed employees on July. Laying off 800 employees is not enough when revenue is 10% of normal....

There's no need for enhanced severance to be offered to encourage uptake now. If any severance is offered people would be fools not to take it because if things keep getting worse like they seem to be then soon there likely won't be any severance at all.

I cannot predict the future but I expect that future rounds will not come with enhanced severance.

Sabre was irresponsible in bringing back furloughed employees too early. I will volunteer for early retirement if given the opportunity.

airlines seem to think we will be taking till 2023/2024 to recover, sending their jets to storage, but nope Sabre be like "we are in the recovery phase of this! look at all the opportunities in the market!"

but if there is another round, i will be sure to volunteer

The executive team will announce some cost cutting actions within 1-2 weeks. History has shown SM likes to give the impression he cares about us by giving us a heads up of impending doom while he secretly accumulates stock options and bonuses.

HR PLEASE read this, go deep enough so we aren't perpetually laying off. Our people have gone through enough!

The only thing that matters for the next 6 months or so, at least (until the virus has passed), is keeping the lights on. Not all the lights, just the critically important ones. If Google is paying for some mainframe offload work then that should continue as long as it doesn't cost Sabre anything. Reinstate the pay cuts and the furloughs. Otherwise Sabre is as good as bankrupt with its runway burndown and new debt.

@1xss+16kJxZKn - if the average salary is $150K I’m seriously underpaid...

Also in AS Sales. We are waiting for this to be over but how long before clients will be able to recover enough so they can buy our products? It's anyone's guess right now so until then we have to wait it out.

I would take a voluntary layoff for sure this time if the offer comes up. There’s no way this is sustainable right now.

anyone think they will ask for early retirement volunteers again? they would probably get a lot of volunteers as i know of many that considered it and now regret it accepting it. i also think a lot of people would volunteer for furlough with schools not opening - parents will need to either home school or do virtual teaching...

SABRE's next earnings release is Oct 29. Deep cost cuts will occur on Aug or Sept so they can be announced as completed. The planning never stopped and they should be able to execute ASAP. Each month that passes w/o action will cost them $10m - based on laying off 800 people at about $150k salary+benefits...

@1qos+16kJxZKn
Lol... Sales has been "sitting around trying to act busy" for 5 years.

How did Mgmt justify promotions after the reorg?? I can understand we needed to fill newly open critical positions but to hand out promotions when they knew that Sales has been off for years and only a few airlines that are left are trying to take advantage of the lull to make major changes. Afraid our leaders are not made for a war time environment.

Airlines who are receiving Gov aid are reducing staff by 30 percent. Sabre needs to make immediate decisions - early retirement, furlough, layoff, no raises, no bonuses, no 401k matching through 2021, etc.

if you listen to bill gates, he thinks covid will be a problem thru 2021. If Sabre was smart they should be looking at staff cuts by at least 30 percent. and yes... also pausing SM's pet projects. Probably would be smart to sell some things off too. The consensus that travel will take years to recover comes from the airlines themselves. If they are planning for that, then thats certainly going to happen.

I'm in Sales and we are literally sitting around trying to act busy. Can't visit customers, they aren't buying anything anyways. What else are we supposed to do?

I was thinking the same exact thing! I was furloughed and shocked I was called back. The business does not need me nor a lot of others I know. With revenues down so much they need to trim a lot more than 10%. Maybe another 10% or even 20%.

Sabre really shouldn't have brought the furloughed back so soon. It made no sense financially. It isn't feasible to keep those costs when revenue is just 11% of normal.

"We continue to take the cost actions necessary in this difficult environment" translates to what exactly oh great finance swami? More layoffs, most probably. More stock options and retention bonuses for the execs, absolutely!

This od insane. Alter so many positive messages and posts in social media about the bookings going up, I was sure the situation is way, way better, like revenue -7x% or at least minus 80-85%.
But 89% is really marginal improvement...

Hope Sabre has enough money to pay off our volunteer early out offer they already made.

i will gladly volunteer if they bring back the program