Zurich based F&B veteran launches support fund for Indian Hospitality Employees

Considering the limited support available for hospitality workers in India following the COVID- 19 pandemic, Zurich based Michael Butler, former corporate director of food and beverage for Europe and India at Hyatt Hotels Corporation has decided to start a fund to support hospitality employees living in India.

Butler is asking for support from anyone across the globe who would like to contribute by donating what they can afford.

Starting from July 20, spread across several days, Butler will also walk 265 km from Zurich to Geneva, wearing a chef coat to show solidarity and support for the hospitality colleagues. He believes this will help raise more awareness and generate contributions for those who are in need.

"Remember, India does not have furloughs or the social security department that provides income or stimulus checks from the government," said Butler, describing his initiative on his LinkedIn page.
He said India has been very close to his heart for many reasons and he has been fortunate to have been able to work with great minds in the field of hospitality in the country.

"I have seen and read various news articles and guest sentiment reports. I came across one that had mentioned many restaurants and hotels have been forced to close again with the risk of 30% of them being shut permanently. I started to make my own enquiries and could see that the Indian Hospitality workers were running out of money."

Butler said he then came up with the idea of walking from Zurich to Geneva. "I hope that through this initiative, we can support many Indian hospitality workers who have lost their jobs – I am hoping we can demonstrate that globally we can get through tough times together and show that hospitality is an industry where people can pull together to help others colleagues who are going through tough times.”

The fund has been set up online and the process will entail the requesting employee submitting an email with an attachment of their relieving letters from past employers. Preference would be given to non-management workers and those who were laid off the earliest. Butler said he will also validate the claims with local support teams to ensure the neediest and deserving ones get support at the earliest.

He has also created the F&B support forum group on LinkedIn and will also seek the support from the forum members to validate the requests for aid and help generate some funds. Based on the application requests, Butler will work with the local support teams to validate the requests and will grant the aid to employees who have been out of a job for the longest time owing to the pandemic and those who will benefit the most from the aid amount. In cases where there are multiple earning members in the same family, the fund will support the ones who are single earners.

The fund has been created in late June, and Butler will officially launch it through the walk on July 20.
The status of the fund collection can be seen in real-time. Those interested can also donate through Paypal.

A Message from Brian Chesky, Co-Founder and CEO of Airbnb, Inc.

Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky sent the following note to Airbnb employees.This is my seventh time talking to you from my house. Each time we've talked, I've shared good news and bad news, but today I have to share some very sad news.

When you've asked me about layoffs, I've said that nothing is off the table. I must confirm that we are reducing the size of the Airbnb workforce. For a company like us whose mission is centered around belonging, this is incredibly difficult to confront, and it will be even harder for those who have to leave Airbnb. I am going to share as many details as I can on how I arrived at this decision, what we are doing for those leaving, and what will happen next.

 Airbnb's business has been hit hard, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019. In response, we raised $2 billion in capital and dramatically cut costs that touched nearly every corner of Airbnb.

While these actions were necessary, it became clear that we would have to go further when we faced two hard truths

• We don't know exactly when travel will return.

• When travel does return, it will look different.

Out of our 7,500 Airbnb employees, nearly 1,900 teammates will have to leave Airbnb, comprising around 25% of our company. Since we cannot afford to do everything that we used to, these cuts had to be mapped to a more focused business

How we approached reductions

It was important that we had a clear set of principles, guided by our core values, for how we would approach reductions in our workforce. These were our guiding principles:

• Map all reductions to our future business strategy and the capabilities we will need.

• Do as much as we can for those who are impacted.

• Be unwavering in our commitment to diversity.

• Optimize for 1:1 communication for those impacted.

• Wait to communicate any decisions until all details are landed — transparency of only partial information can make matters worse.

  Process for making reductions

  Our process started with creating a more focused business strategy built on a sustainable cost model. We assessed how each team mapped to our new strategy, and we determined the size and shape of each team going forward. We then did a comprehensive review of every team member and made decisions based on critical skills, and how well those skills matched our future business needs.

  The result is that we will have to part with teammates that we love and value. We have great people leaving Airbnb, and other companies will be lucky to have them.

  Severance

  Employees in the US will receive 14 weeks of base pay, plus one additional week for every year at Airbnb. Tenure will be rounded to the nearest year. For example, if someone has been at Airbnb for 3 years and 7 months, they will get an additional 4 weeks of salary, or 18 weeks of total pay. Outside the US, all employees will receive at least 14 weeks of pay, plus tenure increases consistent with their country-specific practices.

  Equity

  We are dropping the one-year cliff on equity for everyone we've hired in the past year so that everyone departing, regardless of how long they have been here, is a shareholder. Additionally, everyone leaving is eligible for the May 25 vesting date.

  Healthcare

  In the midst of a global health crisis of unknown duration, we want to limit the burden of healthcare costs. In the US, we will cover 12 months of health insurance through COBRA. In all other countries, we will cover health insurance costs through the end of 2020. This is because we're either legally unable to continue coverage, or our current plans will not allow for an extension. We will also provide four months of mental health support through KonTerra.

  Our goal is to connect our teammates leaving Airbnb with new job opportunities. Here are five ways we can help:

• Alumni Talent Directory — We will be launching a public-facing website to help teammates leaving find new jobs. Departing employees can opt-in to have profiles, resumes, and work samples accessible to potential employers.

• Alumni Placement Team — For the remainder of 2020, a significant portion of Airbnb Recruiting will become an Alumni Placement Team. Recruiters that are staying with Airbnb will provide support to departing employees to help them find their next job.

• RiseSmart — We are offering four months of career services through RiseSmart, a company that specializes in career transition and job placement services.

• Employee Offered Alumni Support — We are encouraging all remaining employees to opt-in to a program to assist departing teammates find their next role.

• Laptops — A computer is an important tool to find new work, so we are allowing everyone leaving to keep their Apple laptops.