Walkers cuts Cayman jobs
Posted on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 11:58 in Headline News
(CNS): One of the Cayman Islands’ largest offshore legal firms has confirmed that it has made a number of redundancies, including staff from the Cayman office. Walkers told CNS on Tuesday morning that, as a result of the global economic crisis, it has been forced to restructure the organisation, which has led to some job losses in all offices except for Singapore. “This economic crisis has severely affected a number of our clients, which, coupled with the targeting of offshore financial centres from the OECD and G20 countries, has resulted in a need to restructure the group as a whole,” the firm said.
Although Walkers would not confirm the exact number of job losses, CNS understands that around ten positions have been lost in Cayman. The firm did say that jobs have gone across a broad spectrum of departments and positions, and in Cayman the losses included work permit holders and Caymanians.
Walkers said that, with the exception of Singapore, all of the group's offices were involved in the restructuring process, which involved Walkers re-examining the situation to enable it to address the impact of the economic crisis in general. The firm said that it hoped there would be no further retrenchments required but that was dependent on what happens globally as well as locally and the kind of initiatives which emerge in offshore financial centres.
Walkers has seven offices in total, from London to Singapore -- the most recent office to open -- including the Cayman Islands office, which opened in 1964 when the firm was founded in this jurisdiction by William Walker. The firm has just completed a new iconic office building that will house the Cayman Islands team on Elgin Avenue. According to the website, the firm employs around 500 people across its seven locations.
Email this page
Comment Policy
The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of CNS or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by CNS. Read more
Recent Comments
- after years of robbing
4 hours 14 min ago - Was only a matter of time
4 hours 15 min ago - A couple years ago when I
4 hours 18 min ago - And he has a sister - Pink
4 hours 21 min ago - if ezzard is your only
4 hours 22 min ago - Caymanian Conscience, you
4 hours 28 min ago - so the staff don't want to do
4 hours 36 min ago - Say wha?!
"Positive
4 hours 42 min ago - Mr. Tibbetts you got me a job
4 hours 42 min ago - I want to tell Mr. Tibbetts
4 hours 45 min ago
Search
Join Our Mailing List
Follow CNS via ...
Facebook Twitter RSS
Comments
Are these cuts linked in any
Are these cuts linked in any way to the massive increase in the WP fees for legal secretaries????
Hmmmm.. food for thought....
For all those who seem to
For all those who seem to have missed the news since 2007....This is a GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.....not some recession brought on by Cayman's immigration policy.
Compared to other countries Cayman's immigration policy is extremely open and receptive.
Top businesses use a downturn
Top businesses use a downturn to trim the fat. It is the weak badly run businesses where are not laying off staff at the moment.
These are further
These are further redundancies to those made a few months ago and the number is 25...Caymanians and expats!
What a shame!!
20 laid off and only one a
20 laid off and only one a lawyer.... why can't the equity partners who earn $150,00 + a month take a pay cut and save some jobs!
HA! Equities make a tad more
HA! Equities make a tad more than $150,000/month... I'd double that figure and then some
Yes I am sure that the
Yes I am sure that the partners could afford to pay the salaries for a few of their underlings, if they thought that it might be temporary, but it is not reasonable to expect that for a long term problem like we are in, especially with the governments plans, budgets and own existence in doubt.
We still do not have audited accounts for most of the government departments. It is a small wonder that any companies want to continue to do business with the CI Government.
XXXXXX
Job cuts!! Mmmm, and now we
Job cuts!! Mmmm, and now we have HSBC in the mix! What's & who's next on the Cayman platte?
I didn’t know that HSBC
Joker....this is NOT
Joker....this is NOT Cayman-unique a problem. It is a global slowdown. I wonder how many PR's and key employee status you trying to justify with taht comment?
I hope it was expats that got
I hope it was expats that got laid off but likely it will be all Caymanians. If Immigration lets that happen, Cayman is doomed.
3 caymanian, 15 or so expat,
3 caymanian, 15 or so expat, so you are way off by a large margin.
not much you can do about ignorance I suppose
"not much you can do about
"not much you can do about ignorance I suppose"
Education is the silver bullet to ignorance, but you need a willing subject. Otherwise, it's like teaching a pig to dance: it's a waste of your time, and it just irritates the pig.
<!-- /comment-inner, /comment -->Please do not segregate. I am
Please do not segregate. I am hopefully right when I say this, that a company of that size, will let go whoever is not up to the job at hand. Not because they are Caymanian. There is alot of people in power there who are also Caymanian, and I trust they have put their input in. So please do not make a comment like that unless you have facts to support it. I am not from here, but lived here for over 15 years, and I now class this as my home, with justy having got my residency, so I support, and always have supported Caymanians. But its not nice to see comments like this. Its people like you who devide this country with these silly comments. There are over 130 different nationalities here in Cayman, and, whether you like it or not, these people, including me, are here to stay. Don't take that previous line as a smart comment, its mere fact.
So please think before you type.
P.S. Please do not reply to my comment as it will fall on deaf ears. I'm just writing this to try and let you know where this country should be at.
I agree that there are a lot
I agree that there are a lot of people in power who are also Caymanian, but how many Caymanians are there who are also in power? A subtle but very very important distinction, and one with a very different answer.
amazing - and here is the
amazing - and here is the ignorant vocal minority Caymanian i was talking about in my earlier post - as if one que!! Read the article! don't comment just for the sake of commenting - try and add some value to the discussion.
Try reading the article. It
Try reading the article. It said expats and Caymanians. Try taking off your paranoid hat and understand that they will have been laying people off according to which areas of the business they felt they could most afford to cut back. The notion they'd target Caymanians to lay off is beneath ridiculous. In fact, they'd RATHER find expats to lay off because it's less hassle. Get a grip.
More remains of the PPM
More remains of the PPM policies, echoing with continuing destructive force.
Now will all those idiots who
Now will all those idiots who not only blame the PPM for all the financial troubles but also advocate bleeding the "big" institutions dry believe what all those of us who have some intelligence have realized for months!
It is a GLOBAL economic crisis and Cayman is not the centre of the universe with financial businesses falling over themselves to come here.
Well said Makam, Cayman -
Well said Makam, Cayman - financial services do not need to be here on the island, now is the time to bend over backwards to give the companies everything they ask for, or the inevitable will happen. They have asked for the same things time and time again and yet the vocal minority of Caymanians keep going with their tired and ridiculous accusations and responses. If you make employment laws and business costs as accomodating as possible, some companies may stay, and Caymanians will benefit as a result, whether directly or indirectly.
Well you know that
Well you know that McKeevaites will find a way to put the blame on The PPM even though The PPM have been out of office for 6 months!
The number is closer to 20
The number is closer to 20 than 10 i believe.
" iconic office building "
" iconic office building " im sure people would rather have their jobs than an iconic memorial !!
Just to be able to actually
Just to be able to actually work in the building would of been nice!
Er why haven’t they
Er why haven’t they moved in?
Are these further
Are these further redundancies since Walkers laid a load of staff from its Cayman office a couple of months ago?
Funny - I am not sure anyone
Funny - I am not sure anyone else got it. I think it was only two.
I just got this too! Haha
I just got this too! Haha
Ooooh, a bit defensive aren't
Ooooh, a bit defensive aren't you?
Ha ha - I wasn't trying to be funny I was entirely serious as one of my friends was laid off from there at the time. I asked her last night and (time flies) it was actually back in May when (I know, not think) at least 15 staff were made redundant. My apologies for my bad recollection thinking it was a couple of months ago when it was actually 6 months ago.
I wasn't trying to make light
I wasn't trying to make light of a serious situation. It was only that a new meaning could be ascribed to your post by the (accidental) omission of the word "off" following the word "laid".
Darn, sorry my bad!
Darn, sorry my bad!
Anyone want to buy an almost
Anyone want to buy an almost finished house?
Must be as they have been
Must be as they have been laying off for a year+ now. I know the number is far more than 10 at this point.
Yes, these are further
Yes, these are further redundancies. I believe there were 16 in Cayman alone.
There were at least 16 in May
There were at least 16 in May 2009 too
Post new comment