When 80% of Intrepid Travel's staff worldwide agreed to a voluntary pay cut in January, the company made it clear that it had no idea how long the cut would last. News from the travel industry around the globe was very grim and many companies were undergoing not just paycuts but massive layoffs. With the 10% salary cut, Intrepid co-founder Darrell Wade hoped that jobs would be saved and delivery of Intrepid's adventures to its customers wouldn't suffer as a result.
In a very positive turnaround, the company was able to shorten the salary reduction period to just six months. Even more positive, Wade has announced to staff that not only will the 10% portion be refunded in full to all staff who volunteered for the cut – they'll all receive a bonus as well.
Speaking to staff in the company's Melbourne, Australia, headquarters recently, Wade stated, 'To make it very, very clear how much we appreciate our people's faith in Intrepid that they volunteered to sacrifice salary, with no promise of anything in return, we will pay a 25% bonus on the amount sacrificed. I want to use a chunk of our profit for that period to say thank you to those staff who backed Intrepid with your own money when we needed it. Thank you.'
