The Santa Clarita CA-based company Princess Cruises announced it will lay off or furlough about 50% of its Californian workforce because of the economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the Carnival Corporation's subsidiaries, Princess' officials said the paused (globally and fleetwide) passenger shipping operations forced the company to reduce its shoreside employment. Princess said in a statement:
“It is with much sadness that we are implementing a combination of layoffs, furloughs, reduced work schedules and pay reductions that will be impacting all shoreside employees, the majority of whom work in Santa Clarita and Seattle. However, these changes and other cost reductions will not compromise our commitment to health, safety, compliance, and environmental protection.”
All employees not furloughed or laid off are expected to have compensation or reduction in hours.
The company’s statement said that because they were not generating revenue, they had taken those "difficult but important expense reduction measures to ensure the company can continue to navigate this difficult period."
Princess Cruises officials announced they would continue to work with the U.S. government and their global partners in order to resume operations when the time is right and bring back many of their furloughed employees.
Princess Cruises has around 2700 shoreside employees.