| | NOVEMBER - 2022MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionIn March 2020, the cruise industry suffered one of the most unprecedented and heart-wrenching moments of its history. We had survived many difficult times, but no one could have imagined what would occur next. For the first time in our history, Royal Caribbean Group, and the entire industry, shut down operations, laid off and furloughed thousands of employees, and kept hoping it was just all a bad dream. Although Human Resources (HR) always had a seat at the table, we suddenly found ourselves with all eyes on us as we prepared to lay off and furlough many of our employees from our computer screens. Some of the employees that were impacted had been with us for 20-plus years, and many were dealing with their own personal struggles due to the pandemic. As an HR team, we knew we had to keep empathy at the center of all we did. Technology allowed us to at least look into the faces of all those being impacted. We had never undertaken such a massive operation. Understanding this was a difficult time for everyone and wanting to ensure we kept this challenging effort as respectful and tied to our values, the team sought to communicate decisions to everyone via video conferencing to ensure we gave them the respect and best possible support we could. It was By Karina Mesa, Human Resources Director, Royal Caribbean GroupMANAGING HUMAN RESOURCE FOR THE CRUISE INDUSTRYKarina Mesa
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