Costa Cruises, First Smart Cruise Company In Italy

(Source: Costa Cruises)

Genoa, 16 October 2017 – Costa Cruises has become the first smart cruise company in Italy. The "Sm@rt Working Costa – Moving Forward!" programme is targeted at all of the company's employees in Italy and abroad, a total of around 1300 persons.

Thanks to this new opportunity, employees in the Costa offices will be able to work from home or another suitable location of their choice one day a week using laptops, an internet connection and a softphone programme, which also enables them to use remote instant messaging, telephone, HD video, conference and voicemail services with visual interface and desktop sharing.

The programme has already been launched at the company's Genoa head office where there are almost 1000 employees. This follows on from a pilot phase that involved two departments (Human Resources and IT) with participation levels of around 90%. By the end of the year smart working will gradually be extended to all of the company's international offices in Europe and America.

The Costa Crociere "Sm@rt Working Costa – Moving Forward!" project was acknowledged at the Smart Working Award 2017 event held by the Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano School of Management for its ability to introduce innovate smart working methods.

"We are proud to be the first cruise company to believe in smart working and one of the five companies acknowledged by the Observatory of Politecnico di Milano in Italy. For us this project means putting our trust in people, giving them the chance to freely organise their work according to their goals and responsibilities, allowing them to explore their potential more fully and improving their quality of life" - commented Paolo Tolle, VP Human Resources at Costa Cruises.

The immediate benefits include a reduction in commuting times - over an hour a day on average for Costa employees - and greater sustainability from an environmental perspective.

According to the most recent Politecnico di Milano Smart Working Observatory data, at the moment there are around 305,000 flexible workers in Italy, equal to 8% of the total¹, an increase of 14% compared with 2016 and 60% with 2013. For businesses the adoption of a "mature" Smart Working model can generate increases of around 15% in the productivity of workers, which at national level equates to €13.7 billion of overall benefits. For workers, even one day a week of remote working can save them an average of 40 hours a year of commutes; for the environment, meanwhile, it can generate a 135 kg reduction in CO2 emissions a year.

1. Considering a sample of employees, middle managers and executives that work in public or private companies with more than 10 employees.