The famed New Jersey Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City has laid off 2,295 employees, MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle announced on Friday.
Borgata Parts Ways with 2,295 Members in New Jersey
MGM Resorts International, the owners of Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, has had to lay off 2,295 members of the staff at the South Jersey property, effective Monday, August 31.
In a letter dated Friday, August 28, MGM President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Hornbuckle confirmed the news. The COVID lockdown has put a lot of economic stress on MGM’s operations forcing drastic structural changes.
Estimated 18,000 employees, who were previously furloughed, will now be separated from the company, the company reported. Some 3,100 Borgata employees, though, will keep their jobs.
Hornbuckle didn’t mince his words in the Friday statement. He acknowledged the impact the decision would have on employees and their families and apologized that MGM found itself in a situation where it was forced to lay off employees.
“Nothing pains me more than delivering news like this,” he added. Yet, Hornbuckle tried to stay optimistic outlining a plan that should the COVID-19 crisis be dealt with quickly, the company would be contacting all laid off employees in a bid to bring them back to work.
Hornbuckle knows that change won’t come overnight. On Friday, he outlined a tentative, although feasible plan for restoring normal operations.
He hopes that restrictions can be loosened, allowing indoor dining to continue, as well as increasing the casino and hotel capacities.
Casinos in New Jersey on the Slow Way to Recovery
With casinos originally suspending operations back in March, most properties were permitted to open on July 2 following strict restrictions and guidelines. Borgata opened fairly late, on July 26. The operating capacity of most venues has been limited to 25% of the overall capacity of all properties.
While New Jersey has had it rather easy, thanks to the well-developed iGaming and Internet wagering segments, all land-based properties continued to report triple-digit losses, local media and the Directorate of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) have reported.
July didn’t bring any good news for the gaming industry in the Garden State with results dropping from $335 million in 2019 to $256 million in 2020. Borgata intended to restart operations, but it was stopped short when the company found out that indoor dining wouldn’t be allowed.
Things have been bad for all properties in New Jersey bar Ocean Resort Casino, which turned out to be the only casino to pull ahead with the numbers, bolstered by sports betting and gambling, according to DGE data.
Sports betting has proven a lifeline for many properties, although most mainstream sports leagues have been in shambles due to the COVID-19 situation and politicizing some issues.
Casino Control Chairman James Plousis noted that over the last months, New Jersey casino businesses have gone to great lengths to ensure the safety of customers as well as employees and guests.