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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Sam Barker

P&O still advertising 27 jobs paying up to £100,000 a year despite sacking 800 staff

P&O ferries are advertising for 27 jobs just hours after it sacked 800 workers - with some of the vacancies paying nearly £100,000 a year.

Yesterday P&O Ferries laid off hundreds of employees over video call and plans to replace them with cheap agency staff.

The move has sparked outcry from union bosses and politicians, with some members of staff refusing to leave one of the ferries in protest.

P&O's justification for the mass lay-offs are that it is losing £100million a year, for the past two years.

But the firm still has live job adverts and is offering to pay up to £682,862.81 per annum to these new recruits.

A spokesman for the Rail, Marine and Transport Workers' union said: "We've said right from the off that there is no shortage of money in this company.

P&O workers who were sacked leaving the Port of Dover yesterday (UkNewsinPictures)

"In terms of boardroom salaries, top brass salaries, in terms of dividends and pay-outs to shareholders.

"There is no shortage of money in this company and therefore the sacking of the entire workforce in the ground was always an excuse to try and get rid of well organised, decently paid workers to bring in cheap labour."

Customer service roles at P&O typically paid £21,249 on cross channel ferries, according to jobs website Indeed - 10% above the national average.

P&O is offering a staggering £75,000 to at least three new positions.

The 'Solutions Architect' role, paying up to £90,000, is an IT position that would allow you to work from home.

In the advertisement for the 37.5 hours a week job, P&O says: "There has never been a better time to join us.

"We are in the midst of a number of major transformations and this role will support work that will have long term impact at P&O ferries."

The applicant will need significant experience as a 'Solution Architect' and the "ability to defend solutions with multiple stake holders".

P&O are also offering up to £75,000 for a Data and Information Architect.

Applicants will be able to work from home for 7.5 hours a day in a five-day week.

P&O says in the application: "We are all about connecting the world and that starts with finding connections with who you work with."

The ferry company are also recruiting a Procurement Manager, offering almost £50,000.

Their role would be to develop relationships with internal stakeholders and external suppliers.

P&O Ferries staff are protesting the mass lay-offs across the country (SWNS)

They will also have to find savings within the ferry side of the business.

A video linked to the role, titled "Come and work with us!", carries the strapline: "It's not just a job; it's family."

But not all roles are so well paid.

A role for a Procurement Administrator Apprentice, working in the same department as the £49,000 a year Procurement Manager, has been advertised for just £11,262.

A Customer Service Advisor in Dover, who would need to be fluent in French, would earn just £22,397.82 when they start.

P&O Ferries have been contacted for comment by news agency Triangle News.

A spokesperson for P&O Ferries later told The Mirror: "We know that for our staff this redundancy came without warning or prior consultation, and we fully understand that this has caused distress for them and their families.

“We took this difficult decision as a last resort and only after full consideration of all other options but, ultimately, we concluded that the business wouldn’t survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies.

“We also took the view, in good faith, that reaching agreement on the way forward would be impossible and against this background, that the process itself would be highly disruptive, not just for the business but for UK trade and tourism."

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