Apr 2009 Financial News

RBC CEO: Find alternatives to retrenchment, redundancy

Apr 16, 2009

With job cuts already a reality and more layoffs looming in both the local private and public sectors due to the domestic impact of the global economic crisis, chief executive officer of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Suresh Sookoo, yesterday advised employers to consider alternatives to retrenchment and redundancy. Sookoo said employers must balance their legal obligations to shareholders against their corporate social role in terms of what has to be done to develop the society. Sookoo made the comments during his contribution to the 11 Hemispheric Private Sector Forum aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, docked at the port of Port-of-Spain.

The conference is part of the programme of the Fifth Summit of the Americas which begins tomorrow. Giving a Caribbean perspective on the crisis, Sookoo said employers must revisit their business models and determine strategic fit in terms of expansion in the Caribbean. “We will not be successful if our society is not successful,” he said. “We are already beginning to see private sector layoffs and contraction. “We have had budget cuts, we have had project deferrals, both in the private and public sectors and generally the Consumer Confidence Index is declining.”

Sookoo said the Caribbean had weathered the storm very well in terms of its banking system which is very robust. However, he said there would be “two more slow winters” and said that Caribbean leaders must make hard choices, take out their best projects and focus on employment, creating a social safety initiative to help the vulnerable and the poor. Giving a poor rating to agriculture, Sookoo said that Caribbean leaders must stop paying lip service to this sector and develop it to create employment and bring back food security. Such an initiative would also help in the reduction of the food import bill, he said.

Sookoo was one of three speakers who dealt with the issue of Human prosperity and the global economic crisis, opportunities and challenges. The other speakers included Hans Rosling, professor of international health from Sweden and Joe Clarke, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. Moderator of the session was Guillermo Perry, former chief economist, World Bank, Colombia. Perry said that, “The main characteristic of the world economy today is that we are living through a major period of uncertainty.” He said, “We must hope for the best but we must also plan for the worse. “Further, anything we do now to mitigate (the) crisis should be compatible with long- term development and growth.”

He said that it is well known that crisis opens opportunities to enact long overdue structural reforms. “We should take advantage of these opportunities both at international and national levels.” Perry added that leaders of the G-20 countries have to do a lot to avoid protectionism. “We have to be aware of a new type of financial protectionism emerging which could be very complicated for the world going forward,” he said in reference to stimulus packages which have conditions that the funds be used in the home countries. He said the Great Depression became a great depression precisely because each country tried to deal with its problems by closing its borders.


Source:
Yvonne Webb
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday April 16, 2009

http://guardian.co.tt/business/business/2009/04/16/rbc-ceo-find-alternatives-retrenchment-redundancy