This section focuses on employee and guest welfare. Highlighting safety, well-being, career growth, and health standards. We aim to create a supportive environment for everyone in our business. Our commitment includes training and professional development, ensuring teams are prepared for all situations and fostering a respectful culture.
Growing talent from within: We want to support the career development of our employees within our business. Our talent management programme offers a wide range of experiences for those with high potential so that they can deliver the best experience to our guests and ensure their teams are highly effective. The capabilities of our onboard managers are regularly reviewed to ensure they have the relevant abilities to carry out their roles. We work with individuals on career paths that can lead to further promotion, depending on business needs. We promoted 5,600 crew members in 2023. Gender equality: We want to provide equal opportunities and gender equality across all our employees. Gender equality is vital for fostering diversity, enhancing decision-making, and driving innovation within the industry. It ensures equal opportunities for all, creating a more inclusive and equitable work environment. Promoting gender equality helps attract a wider talent pool, address workforce shortages, and supports the industry's growth.
Taking care of our people: We manage our crew in full compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) when assigning working hours. Our crew are fundamental to the effective running of our business, and it is important that they enjoy their work and are motivated to do their best. Every ship has a dedicated Learning & Development Manager whose role is dedicated to supporting our crew’s development. Our larger ships also have an HR Engagement Specialist, reporting to the onboard HR Officer, to provide improved HR support for our larger crews. In 2023, we launched the BETTER program: we increased salaries across all onboard positions and introduced a bonus scheme . In addition, we improved crew rotation, provided better access to information, training and e-learning opportunities, and improved connectivity on board, using new WIFI service providers with reduced rates. . These interventions have contributed to a reduction in turnover in MSC Cruises crew from approximately 35% in June 2023 to 17% by the end of the year.