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☆ A cruise ship dancer and musician reveal what it's like to be entertainers at sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

From actors to musicians, cruise ships employee dozens of performers to entertain guests on board. A Royal Caribbean singer and dancer told Insider what it's like to live and work on a cruise ship. "When you're like a gigging musician like me, it's just a hustle on land," James told Insider. On Royal Caribbean ships, passengers can see Broadway classics like "Mamma Mia" and "Grease," ice spectaculars, and "aqua shows" with performances from dancers, divers, and artistic swimmers. Do you work on a cruise ship?

☆ Delta bars employees without paid tickets from Sky Club lounges as it struggles with long lines and overcrowding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Delta employees will be barred from the airline's Sky Club lounges unless they pay for a ticket. Airline staff who pay for Sky Club access will still be able to use the lounge when flying on discounted employee tickets. Delta Sky Club access is becoming more expensive — and more exclusive — for both passengers and airline employees. Brady MacDonald/InsiderDelta employees who purchased Sky Club membership or qualifying Amex cards can request a reimbursement, according to the email. Are you a Delta flight attendant or pilot?

☆ Celebrity Cruise captain explains how her crew maneuvered their massive ship in rough conditions to rescue a boat of migrants in distress
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two cruise ships rescued over 20 migrants in distress off the coast of Florida earlier this week. "Because of the rough sea conditions, I needed to maneuver the ship in order to provide a lead so that we could bring the boat safely alongside the ship." A post shared by Captain Kate McCue (@captainkatemccue)Maritime law requires all vessel — including cruise ships — to provide assistance to passengers in distress regardless of circumstance. On Monday, a Carnival cruise ship similarly rescued a boat of five migrants 25 nautical miles northwest of Cuba. Steve Glassman, a Fort Lauderdale city commissioner, was one of the thousands of passengers onboard the Celebrity Cruise ship during Tuesday's rescue mission, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

☆ Meet a 36-year-old broker who rents luxury vacation villas to tech billionaires and celebrities paying up to $25,000 a night
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Now, she manages a private portfolio of luxury villas in Greece that cost up to $25,000 a night. Categorized by five, six, and seven-star properties, Kennedy's multi-million dollar villas are not your typical vacation rental — and you won't find them on Airbnb. Nightly rates for her portfolio of ten villas in Greece range, for example, from $4,000 to $25,000. A spokesperson said Elon Musk has also stayed in one of the Mykonos villas, but declined to share documentation or additional details regarding his trip, citing NDA restrictions. Not all rich people are made equalTesla CEO Elon Musk was photographed on board a luxury yacht this July in Mykonos, Greece.

☆ Some flight attendants have their attendance tracked by a game-like 'point system' that they say values efficiency over health
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Hannah Towey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

During a year marked by labor strikes and protests, flight attendants and rail workers told Insider that these points-based attendance policies create an industry culture that values efficiency over employee health and well-being. But workers say the point systems form the foundation of punitive attendance policies that force them to work while sick or dangerously fatigued. At American Airlines, flight attendants have pushed back on the system for years. "I don't think you'd speak to one flight attendant who thinks the point system is necessarily fair, or balanced," Anthony Cataldo, an American Airlines flight attendant of 33 years, told Insider. So we're on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," a BNSF railway conductor of over a decade told Insider.

☆ Some Southwest ground workers developed frostbite and worked 16-hour shifts amid the airline's holiday meltdown, union says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Hannah Towey | Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Southwest Airlines canceled thousands of flights this week amid extreme winter weather. Many ground workers were forced to work 16-18 hours shifts during the chaos, their union said. Some developed frostbite after working outside in the frigid temperatures, per the union's president. Southwest canceled thousands of flights in the wake of a deadly winter storm that hit the US during peak holiday travel. Do you work for Southwest Airlines?

☆ Meet a 27-year-old Four Seasons concierge in charge of the hotel's VIP guests paying up to $25,000 a night
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

I shadowed a concierge in charge of high-paying guests at the Four Seasons in downtown New York. The queen ant in this metaphor is 27-year-old guest relations manager Jessica Waddy, whose job revolves around the hotel's high-profile guests and their countless needs. The cellar level of the Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown. The Empire Suite at Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown, with rates starting at $25,000 a night. The needs of high-profile guests are listed on a "rider," a document that's typically multiple pages long and attached to their hospitality contract.

☆ American Airlines is closing its San Francisco crew base and asking 400 flight attendants to leave California or leave the airline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

American Airlines is closing its San Francisco base, potentially displacing 400 flight attendants. The base is home to some of the carrier's most senior flight attendants, two-thirds of whom have been at the airline for 13 years or more, according to the union representing American Airlines flight attendants. In interviews, 10 SFO-based flight attendants told Insider that a myriad of factors make it difficult to leave the Bay Area. The decades of experience with the goal of achieving that lifestyle are now effectively lost, one flight attendant told Insider. Some employees expressed confusion on why they need to leave San Francisco if the carrier will still need to staff SFO flights.

☆ Rail workers are 'enraged' and feel 'mistreated,' says a union president. It could end in a holiday season strike that would send shockwaves through the US economy.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Hannah Towey | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Rail workers might go on strike in December, potentially rattling the supply chain and the whole economy. BLET narrowly voted to ratify an agreement with management, but another major union voted to reject. Ultimately, if any union goes on strike, other rail unions likely will not cross the picket line. Rail workers voted in record numbers after feeling "alienated," "enraged," and "mistreated, all for the sake of profit"The Transportation Division of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), which has over 28,000 eligible voting members, narrowly voted down the proposal. If any union does strike, Pierce said, "no other union is going to cross that picket line in the railroad biz."

☆ Think you've got it bad? Odds are your manager is even more burned out than you are, according to a new survey.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Your manager might be even more burned out than you are, according to new survey from Slack. 43% of the middle managers surveyed reported burnout, more than any other worker group. Among the middle managers surveyed, 43% said they are experiencing burnout as a result of chronic workplace stress. Staff without any workers underneath them reported the second-highest percentage at 40%, followed by senior management at 37%, and executives at 32%. And burnout isn't just bad for workers, it's bad for the bottom line too — causing 32% worse productivity and 60% worse ability to focus, per the survey.

☆ The Big Tech layoffs you won't hear about: How the shift to remote work is leaving Meta janitors and bus drivers jobless
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The shift to remote work has caused Silicon Valley service workers to lose their in-person jobs. The move is the latest development showcasing how Big Tech's widespread adoption of remote work is translating to layoffs for Silicon Valley's in-person service workers. NOAH BERGER/AFP via Getty Images)As June 2021, any full-time Meta employees whose job responsibilities can be completed online can apply to become a fully-remote worker. "Unlike other Silicon Valley companies, Meta has refused to mandate that its employees return to work on the main campus. Are you a bus driver, cafeteria worker, janitor, or security guard contracted by a Big Tech company?

☆ Move over WFH, hello 'work whenever': 94% of employees want to ditch the 9-to-5 for flexible schedules, new survey says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

If you thought WFH was the best way to entice employees, wait until you hear about "work whenever." 94% of workers surveyed by Slack said they want to ditch the 9-to-5 for more flexible schedules. In a new Slack survey published Thursday, a staggering 94% of workers said they want flexibility in when they work — compared to 80% of respondents who said they want flexibility in where they work. "The sudden move to remote work provides the opportunity to question decades of orthodoxy about a 9-to-5, office-centric, homogeneous work culture." Employers allowing remote employees to "work from anywhere" has been one of the more substantial workplace developments to gain traction over the past few years.

☆ Billionaire Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel is in the process of acquiring Maltese citizenship, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Peter Thiel is in the process of acquiring Maltese citizenship, The New York Times reported Saturday. The Silicon Valley investor and Republican donor has American, German, and New Zealand passports. The EU is trying to ban Malta's "golden passport" scheme, which grants recipients access to the EU. Among these plans is Maltese citizenship, a popular passport among the ultra-wealthy looking for access into the EU. It's one of the only European Union member states left with a "golden passport" program, where foreigners can receive citizenship in exchange for investing over $700,000 into the local economy.

☆ Some virtual workers are moving abroad without telling their boss or coworkers — and are taking elaborate measures to not get caught
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some virtual workers are moving to another country without telling their bosses or coworkers. One virtual worker who's secretly moving to Mexico told Insider it's worth the risk of being fired. He then created an intricate VPN and router system to conceal his computer's location, according to the outlet. During meetings, she uses a fake Zoom background and takes phone calls in a sound-proof booth to conceal any noise that could give away her location, according to the report. Stefanie Keenan/GettyA recent survey of 1,481 workers found that 40% of HR executives discovered employees working from outside their home state or country in the past year.

☆ Germans are taking more cold showers as Russia doubles down on energy cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-08 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

German cities are implementing energy saving measures amid the threat of a Russia oil cutoff. Some residents are taking cold showers and air-drying laundry as a result, local media reported. Prior to the Ukraine war, over half of Germany's gas came from Russia. Prior to the war, over half of Germany's natural gas came from Russia — now it's down to 35%. But officials fear extreme shortages may take place this winter if Russia cuts off its remaining oil supply to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions.

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