PR blunder sees ‘about face’ on furloughed staff
It should come as no surprise that the hierarchy at Liverpool have made a reversal to their decision to furlough workers and staff during the coronavirus shutdown.
Initially, the club had decided that the government job retention scheme would suite the needs of Liverpool and their beleaguered profit margin which has come under siege since the shutdown.
Clubs are losing a ton of money, and there is no sign of this changing anytime soon. Lost revenues can never be recouped and some very creative ideas have been proffered to staunch the bleeding. This furlough plan put forward over the weekend past by CEO Peter Moore, is one such attempt.
It is important to note that FSG has taken the same stance with their two US sports franchises. The Red Sox and the Bruins of Boston. Their attempt to shed overhead by reducing staff and hourly workers would be supported financially by the government.
In essence, the government would supplement the incomes of furloughed and laid-off workers through unemployment insurance and other emergency governmental programs established during this time of economic crisis.
This is how things have gone here in the US and FSG calculated wrongly: that the same prescription could and would be embraced in England. While this might work in the states, it flies in the face of common decency in the Commonwealth.
This is not the first instance of Liverpool leadership taking a tone deaf position regarding financial planning that adversely effected supporters, fans, and the city of Liverpool.
In April of 2016, fans staged a walk out of a match at Anfield in protest over ticket pricing in one of the main stands to increase revenues. After the protest, the club reversed their decision about the ticket price increase.
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As it stands Liverpool are one of the wealthiest sports franchises in the world. And while they have exhibited a propensity for spending, to include stadium improvements and training facility upgrades; they have managed their business expenditures wisely and judiciously. Liverpool would continue to be profitable even without arses in the seats as their business model and projections have shown.
Signing a new kit deal with Nike, and increased revenues from lucrative television and streaming contracts, with their successes in the past two campaigns have seen their profits skyrocket while other clubs have not done so well.
In the final analysis this club is a corporation, and behind the sports, it should not be forgotten, that Liverpool are in the business to make a profit. Players, coaches and other team staff have endured and taken pay cuts to help elevate the loss of revenues. But clearly this is not enough, as corporate bean counters burn the midnight oil seeking creative ways to minimize the loses. This is just good business.
It is a difficult time for everyone, and employed people across the economic spectrum are taking it on the chin during the pandemic shutdown. Not to mention putting their health at risk by going to work in this climate of devastating, life threatening disease.
Public health should outway any and all decisions in this crisis and that includes economic health. Isolation and social distancing is the best method for curbing the spread of the virus at this point in time; but this doesn’t pay the bills for working people.
If they are staying home due to a health crisis lockdown; then their incomes must be subsidized by employers and governments (local and national). Not everyone in the economy can work from home.
Peter Moore’s heartfelt editorial letter yesterday exemplifies this conundrum very well, as LFC can hardly continue to pay wages to ‘stay at home employees’ indefinitely.
This is just one club at the top of the heap, one employer. Magnify this by the hundreds even thousands of such employers nationwide and you can begin to grasp the scope of the problem (economically speaking) business and governments are facing.
If FSG has a blind spot or one weakness; it is their misguided assumption that what plays well in the US will work in the UK. This isn’t just bad analytics and assessment, it is bad form.
YNWA… at this crucial time, folks must come together in self imposed isolation during a time of life threatening crisis; to stand as one, to defeat as one, this cruel and devastating global pandemic. Each of us must make sacrifices necessary to see this to the end.
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That means corporations and the people who make up these economic giants of shared prosperity. And it means you and I – we too must do our part and behave responsibly – enduring the necessary sacrifices that ensure our own health and well being, as well as that of our neighbors and people the world over.
Their health and well being is directly tied to our own. How ironic it is that it would take a global health pandemic to drive this point home to those who rely heavily on exclusivity and deliberate separation from the heaping writhing mass of unwashed humanity, as an indicator of their success, wealth, and worth.