More US Casino Operators Announce Layoffs, Total Reduction Likely to Exceed 10,000 Jobs

Posted on: July 14, 2020, 07:04h. 

Last updated on: July 14, 2020, 10:24h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Additional US casino operators are informing team members across the country that their jobs are being eliminated, a decision that comes in response to reduced demand.

casino operators layoffs gaming industry
Resorts World Catskills in New York is prepping for its reopening. But if it doesn’t come soon, the casino operator says jobs will be lost. (Image: Resorts World Catskills)

Giant regional gaming operator Boyd Gaming is the latest to inform employees that a reduction in jobs is forthcoming. In compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, Boyd advised its workforce in May that job cuts at all 29 of the company’s domestic properties were imminent.

The notice said that anywhere between 25-60 percent of the Nevada-based gaming company’s staff could be eliminated. Fortunately, Boyd now says that it expects that number to be on the lower end — closer to the 25 percent mark.

Given these ongoing challenges and continued uncertainty, we are moving forward with permanent layoffs of team members who were still on furlough and had not been recalled to work,” a Boyd statement explained. “We are notifying affected team members as expeditiously as we can. This was an extremely difficult decision for our Company, and one we had hoped would not be necessary.”

Boyd Gaming reported having roughly 24,300 employees at the end of the 2019 fiscal year. The WARN Act requires businesses that employ more than 100 people to provide a minimum 60-day warning regarding mass layoffs to those who might be affected.

National Job Losses

Boyd Gaming operates casinos in 10 states, but is most invested in Nevada, where the company owns 12 properties. Most of the business’ job cuts will be in the Silver State, as Boyd employs 10,000 people there.

Sahara, Treasure Island, and M Resort have also filed WARN Act letters regarding likely layoffs. Station Casinos has announced “significant” layoffs, too. Boyd rival Penn National Gaming has also issued WARN letters to 2,575 workers at 13 of the company’s 36 casinos and two corporate offices.

Thousands of workers employed by New York casinos and racetracks are also on notice. Employees at the four upstate casinos — Tioga Downs, del Lago, Rivers, and Resorts World Catskills — as well as at one of the two downstate racinos, Resorts World New York City — have been told their termination is looming.

More than 4,100 WARN letters have been handed to workers employed in New York’s commercial gaming industry.

Time to Open?

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) says there is no set date when the commercial casinos might reopen. Many of the state’s tribal casinos, however, unlocked their doors last month.

New York has been the hardest-hit state by COVID-19. Real estate developer Jeff Gural, who owns Tioga Downs, as well as the Meadowlands in New Jersey, says Cuomo has done a good job in mitigating the coronavirus. But he believes the state is ready to resume business.

We know for a fact that our customers are not sitting at home waiting for us to reopen,” Gural explained. “They are simply getting in their cars and driving to casinos in areas where the transmission rate is far higher.”

Gural believes the continued closures of commercial casinos could be helping to spread the coronavirus, as gamblers travel elsewhere to test their luck.