Maritime CEO

Spinnaker: Shipping more “grown-up” when it comes to HR

 

Leigh-on-Sea: The shipping industry has adopted a more “grown-up” approach to human resources in the current recession, becoming much more focused on retention over redundancies, argues one of the sector’s top names in recruitment. Phil Parry, chairman of British HR specialists Spinnaker, talks to Maritime CEO in a wide ranging interview on the changing needs in maritime staffing.
 
“During this recession, the shipping industry has behaved differently than in other recessions,” Parry reckons. “Previously, there were lots of redundancies; this time there is a greater HR focus on retention as well as controlling costs – a more ‘grown-up’ approach.”  
 
Shipping now employs HR professionals, unlike in previous cycles.  This has changed the face of salary benchmarking and HR practice, Parry says.  Whereas, historically, shipping companies were unwilling to share information, as the industry has become more “corporate” and has embraced modern HR practices, so the market demands robust and accurate salary data and employers are much more open, which is much more the norm in other industries, the former maritime lawyer confides.  
 
When it comes to keeping costs down but keeping key employees happy, many companies have adopted what Parry describes as a “merit matrix” approach to pay rises. “Put simply, better people get a bigger slice of the pay review budget,” he explains.
 
Maritime CEO hosted its inaugural Shipowners Roundtable lunch recently in Hong Kong at which discussion turned to the officer crunch. Pay for an Indian master on a tanker, Maritime CEO was informed, has by no means plateaued in the downturn, with these officers taking home up to $15,000 a month.
 
Parry is also adamant that the officer crunch has not eased up.
 
Based on a benchmark scenario of annual fleet growth of 2.3%, 2020 officer demand is predicted at 772,000, but that rises to 817,000 if fleet growth is 3% per annum, Parry says. “Of course,” he points out, “we do expect fleet growth to slow with reduced ordering and increased scrapping, but my best guess is that over the course of the decade, it will outstrip 3% annually in which case officer demand will be higher even than this latter figure.”
 
Part of Maritime CEO’s remit is to flit from one shipping hub to another day-by-day and a very obvious trend we have noticed is the demise of the expat in international shipping companies’ set ups around the globe. Local staff and local executives in regional offices over expats appears to be a trend in shipping.
 
Quite so, concurs Parry. “More so in the Far East than the Middle East,” he says. “Overseas postings used to be regarded as hardships and expat packages were paid accordingly.  Nowadays, many shipping centres are desirable places to live but are also expensive so it makes sense for employers either to hire locals where possible or to attract a foreigner on local terms or near-local terms rather than on full expat terms.”
 
Parry was one of the founders of Spinnaker in 1997. He previously worked as a maritime solicitor for Ince & Co. He represents BIMCO on the BIMCO/ISF Manpower Steering Committee and has recently founded the OSCAR campaign, which aims to raise funds for London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital from the international shipping community.  [20/03/13]
 

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